World of Warcraft Dragon Age: The Lost Warden
by Freedom Guard
Summary: Something I wanted to try out for the sake of experimentation
1. Chapter 1

World of Warcraft X Dragon Age Origins: The Lost Warden

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Bioware and Blizzard so let's leave it at that.

Prologue

( ): Thoughts

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Author's Notes:

After that episode with my first Warcraft fanfiction attempt, I figured going back to drawing board and instead do a crossover with one of my favorite RPGs and it is Dragon Age Origins. Now I know someone's done this idea already, but that one has a Warcraft character land in the Dragon Age Origins world, this is not the same.

I have managed to do plenty of research on the game and therefore this has serious potential for crossovers, and I'm taking my first shot at this. I have taken all the DLCs into account and plan to add what happened there in this story, of Awakening doesn't happen with the PC of the first game so he's replaced by an Orlesian Grey Warden in this one.

Basically the plot takes place with the final battle with the Archdemon in Ostagar with the Warden taking the final blow to kill the leader of the Darkspawn, he's taken Morrigan's offer and by all rights should be alive and leading the Wardens after the battle, however….the Archdemon in it's final death throes unleashes a powerful spell to kill the Warden, but the Maker had other plans…

And you can guess how this might turn out…

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In Ashenvale…

The beauty of the forests of Ashenvale has always beguiled those who have ever stepped into it's depths, home to many creatures and intelligent races that have lived there for countless eons. Even after the brutal Third war that saw the unification of the Alliance and the Horde to finally strike down the Burning Legion and their leader Archimonde, the forests of Ashenvale began to heal and grow hale once more.

At the moment, it was a soon to come night as the sun set down on the many trees that were there and the sounds of the various beings that called Ashenvale home were soon getting ready for some much needed sleep.

However, sleep was far from the mind of one person as he moved through the bushes and trees of Ashenvale, and he had another plan that he was currently pushing into action and that was to find his comrades.

"Oghren!"

"Leliana!"

"Alistair!"

"Wynne!"

"Morrigan!!!"

"Sten!"

"Zevran!"

"Shale!"

"Cardos!"

Damien Cousland, youngest son of Teyrn Bryce and Eleanor Cousland, younger brother of Fergus Cousland, and one of the few surviving Fereldan Grey Wardens was in a state of utter confusion as he moved through the forests that he found himself in. the last thing he recalled was striking the downed Archdemon to finally end the Fourth Blight once and for all. He had finally avenged his family who were betrayed by Arl Rendon Howe whose mad bid for power had driven him to betray his family, murdering his sister in law, his nephew, his father, and mother, siding with Loghain and nearly plunging the entire kingdom into civil war.

He had managed to gain support to counter Loghain's plans despite Anora's actions, he had finally gotten her to marry to Alistair and in doing so, allowed Alistair to take his rightful place as King and to allow Anora to lead the nation. While he had a degree of dislike for her actions, he understood her desire to remain in power and he knew that her abilities and skills would prove invaluable in keeping Ferelden from going down the pot once this Blight was ended.

He had hoped that once the Archdemon was killed, he could go back to working with the Grey Wardens, help them rebuild their presence in Ferelden, and also help Alistair in dealing with the difficulties of being king as well as keep Anora from running Alistair roughshod. However, things changed the second he drove that sword deep into the skull of the dying Archdemon while Morrigan, Alistair and Cardos watched him.

A massive blast of pure energy knocked him out and then here he was, in a forest that he had not recognized in his entire life even though he had been traveling in his younger years before that fateful day in Highever all those months before. He shook his head as he still felt the massive headache flow all over his mind like a wave, or better yet, like two Ogres were using his head as a toy.

He stopped as another wave of nausea hit him and he swore once more as he sat down on a nearby tree.

"Maker's breath! I feel like a Dragon used me as a chew toy…."

He rested as best he could and tried to relax himself and after some minutes, or hours, he didn't know which, the pain began to subside and that helped him clear his thoughts and he looked about once more to try and find something….anything that would tell him where in Ferelden was he. He found nothing, and sighed as he leaned his head back on the tree and took a deep breath and tried to make sense of what had happened.

(How in the name of the Maker did I land here in this forest? Last I recall, I was pulling out that sword I sent into the head of that Archdemon and then that massive wave of energy hit me, bright light and then here….)

(Am I dead? No, if I was dead then I wouldn't be feeling like this at all, so where am I?)

The Warden looked around and had to admit that the forest was attractive, not the same as the wilds he had been too and at least he was not going to be suddenly attacked by the regular creatures and those that were infected by the Blight. He checked his gear, his Family Sword was still there, as well as Star fang, his Bow of the Golden Sun, and his Warden Commander armor set was still there along with his other gear. He was happy about that when he woke up in this place, he would never forgive himself if he lost all the gear that had been key to his successes in fighting the Darkspawn.

He felt his stomach growl and decided to see if he still had food left in his pack, his head was finally calm enough to not bother him and his hunger was demanding that he get some sustenance. He had found some dried meat, bread and amazingly enough a pot of honey and a flask of ale. He dug in and ate the food ravenously and felt some measure of calm in his body and that was something that he needed.

He looked around and decided to set up camp for the time being and get some rest as night would fall soon and once the day would come, he was going to find any trace of his comrades, failing that, he would have to find a town or village that could direct him to Ostagar or anywhere else that he might recognize, and if possible find the others.

He moved forward after his meal to find a good campsite and found one near a rock face and it was in a semi circle as well. He cleaned the area as best he could and he soon got a fire started due to his training and experiences, and also get some leaves, soft earth, and used one of the hides he had in back to make proper bedding for a better chance of getting some sleep. He then decided to remove his armor and get comfortable though he made sure to keep both of his swords close to him on the off chance he was suddenly going to be attacked by whatever was resting here.

He looked around and sighed a bit as he went to sleep, hoping that by tomorrow he would be able to find the others soon, and he hoped that the nightmares he would have about the Darkspawn would finally be put to rest, he needed his sleep badly at this point.

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Unknown to the Grey Warden…

"Who is he?"

"I do not know for sure….no doubt that he is human, but still, why would he wander around like that?"

The speakers were elves, but were certainly not like the Dalish or City Elves that resided in the land of Thedas, they were female, all, slender, beautiful yet strong and powerful in form. They were the Kal'dorei, the Children of the Stars, or in the Common tongue, the Night Elves. They had been living in these lands for many centuries ever since the dawn of the world that they resided in. The two were part of the Sentinels, the military branch of the Night Elves and at the moment, they were soon joined by three more of their kindred as they observed the sleeping Grey Warden.

They had been on patrol for some time and were about to call it a day when they heard shouting and headed in that direction and spotted the Grey Warden as he moved through the forest, they then decided to track this human and see just where he was going to go. At the moment, they were focused on keeping an eye on him and see if he was a threat. While they were part of the Alliance they were not entirely trusting of the younger races as well as they were of them.

They were however under orders from Tyrande not to harm humans unless they were part of any evil cult or had harmed their people, this one had done neither as of yet and seems to be merely lost. However, they were still in need of answers on who he was and what he was doing here in the lands.

One of the Night Elves and leader of this band of the Sentinels, Callis Stareye decided get closer to better identify this stranger. She silently motioned for her sisters to follow her as they moved to the encampment of the Grey Warden and as soon as they were thre, she took the time to look at the features of the Grey Warden.

She was quick to note that for a human, he was rather handsome to say the least, chiseled features and only a few scars here and there, a strange tattoo was on the right side of his face, dark hair like midnight and a slight showing of a beard was there. She could see that this was no stranger to battle as despite sleeping, he seemed to be in the grip of one dream or another.

She placed that aside for the time being and directed her attention to the man's gear, she looked at the Warden Commander's Armor and had to give her appreciation for the kind of construction that went into the making of this armor. It was well made and was crafted with great skill, while offering excellent protection from attacks. The unique Griffin symbol on the armor was also interesting. She had seen griffins before as they were used in battle by the Alliance forces more than once in their time and was quite an interesting creature though she preferred the hippogryphs more, she placed that aside as she then directed her attention to the weapons he carried.

The bow was beautiful, and seemed to radiate strength and power before her, something that told her that whoever this man is, he possessed considerable wealth and power to own such a bow, she could also see that the arrows that he had were not the regular kind as she could sense some form of magic in them that spoke volumes of the nature of this man. His swords were also different, one seemed to be a normal Longsword but it was well cared for and seemed to have some level of magical power. The other sword was different in many ways as it seemed to have lines of power that glowed deep blue in them and it was unlike most regular swords that she had seen in her life time as a member of the Sentinels and she had to give her appreciation of the smith who made such a weapon.

As she was done, she decided to see if there was anything else on the man's person but as she was about to do so, the man apparently had been only half awakened as he roared out a battle oath and was quickly getting his swords in hand and moved away, quickly placing his back to the wall to prevent him from being attacked from behind.

This action had been enough to force Callis and her fellow Sentinels to quickly ready their bows as they also appeared before the Warden and were ready to end his life if he did anything to harm their fellow Sentinel and their commander.

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Damien had been suffering another one of the bad dreams, evidence to him that the Darkspawn blood he had drank during the Joining still affected him, the dream was when he was back in Howe's estate only this time, the bastard traitor had spared his parents only to kill them before him and his group, he recalled the looks on both his parents when they were last seen alive by him in their home and he watched as Howe sneered at him as he killed them.

That was why he roared in anger and reflexively readied himself for battle as he awoke and readied his swords to fight, but as soon as he reminded himself that it was just a dream since he had already killed Howe, he began to relax, but the moment he recovered his senses, they warned him of danger and he looked about to find himself being watched by five beings who were armed with bows and arrows were notched into them.

That was enough to get him readied for battle but he looked at the people, and to his surprise, they were all female. He looked at them carefully and saw that they were tall, almost as tall as he was, though he was slightly taller by at least some inches. That was something that surprised some of his companions at times though they made no issue of his height since Sten was the tallest of the whole group that were human and living, Shale was much taller due to the fact that she was a Golem.

They appeared to be elivish though they hardly matched the appearance of the City Elves or the Dalish Elves as well. They all had purple skin of some lighter and darker tones, long ears, much longer than those of the Elves he knew of. Their forms were lithe and curvaceous, yet he could tell that underneath the physical beauty, these females were muscular and strong as well, the eye brows were prominent as well and some of the women appear to have glowing blue eyes and some of them have different colors in their hair, two of them had deep green hair, two had light blue, and the other one had deep blue hair.

And they were wearing little armor, they had greaves on, bracers, thigh guards, light pauldrons with purple feathers in the edges, and some form of chest armor that protected their….more than ample busts, one of them apparently had markings that denoted higher rank as he knew that higher ranking officials usually had more adornment to show their status when in battle, just like his Warden Commander Armor.

He had bet that if Zevran was with him, the Crow Assassin would have been happy to see such a sight, and he had to admit that he found the sight very interesting as well as even Morrigan didn't dress like this in any fashion, but he was in a dangerous situation and only had a simple set of clothes on at the moment and he had no armor on him.

One of the eleven women, the Commander spoke to him in some form of language that he could understand though he had noted something of an accent there.

"Who are you human?"

Damien had no idea what was going on before him and he decided that discretion is the better part of valor and placed both swords down and spoke to the apparent leader of this all female bunch.

"I am Damien Cousland, youngest son of Bryce and Eleanor Cousland of Highever, and one of the last Fereldan Grey Wardens. Now that I told you who I am, I want to know who are you? You and your companions are not like the City Elves I know of, and you're not of the Dalish Elves either."

Callis was confused by this, the only elves she knew were her kindred, the….High Elves, and the Blood Elves. She had no idea who these City or Dalish Elves were and wondered just what this man was talking about, However, she knew that she didn't have the answers and decided that maybe the Druids of her people may hold the answer.

One of her fellow Night Elves then spoke to her in their native tongue as to keep the stranger in the dark on what they were saying to one another.

"What should we do sister?"

Callis replied to that.

"I do not know, but we should take him to the Druids and let them decide what to make of him."

"Are you certain that is the right path?"

"I wish I had a more open answer to that, but we have to do this quickly."

Damien didn't like this sudden change of pace as the women were talking to themselves in a tongue that didn't match any of the languages that he was familiar with in all his studies of history, politics, and culture in the library in his home as well as the things he had learned in his journeys. He didn't make any moves that would get him noticed however as the others were still armed and ready for battle to face him. He had no idea what to make of all this but he was not going to take the risk and let himself be skewered by arrows just because of a misunderstanding.

The leader of the group then spoke to him directly in the same voice.

"You are to come with us human?"

"And where to do you plan to take me then? And for your information lady, I do have a name."

However, just as things were about to get difficult, a whooping cry was heard and from the other side came a large number of beings, goat like men who were tall and had curved swords in their hands, long curved horns, hair and goat feet with tails of some sort. Damien had no idea what they were, but one thing was for certain, they were not friendly as they roared out ion battle lust.

"By Andraste's grace…what are they?!"

The Night Elves however knew those creatures well enough and Callis shouted.

"Satyrs!!! Drive these foul beasts back sisters!!"

The Night elves began unleashing their attacks as the Satyrs closed the gap and began to attack them as the Satyrs attacked the Sentinels head on. Several of the Satyrs fell to the arrows of the Night Elves but there were more of them and that worried Callis as she knew that while they were more than able to fight as a team, her Sentinels were outnumbered to say the least and judging by the number of Satyrs that were closing in on them, they were soon going to be overwhelmed.

As she readied an arrow into her bow, one of the Satyrs broke ranks and charged right at her and she attacked, her arrow was buried deeply into the chest of the creature, but she missed it's foul heart and it came closer. However it was soon killed as it's head was sent flying, she turned to see Damien with both swords at the ready as he charged into the battle just as the Satyr fell dead, it's blood flowing deeply into the Earth itself.

She looked just as the Grey Warden engaged the Satyrs in battle, dumbfounded by the strange man's actions as he began to fight the creatures with out his swords in hand and none of his heavy armor.

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(By Andraste's Grace….I hope I survive this.)

Damien had no time to say those words as he summoned all of his knowledge, training and experience in fighting with the creatures, he had no idea what was going on before him still, but now was not the time for questions as he knew that he had to fight, despite knowing little of the women there before him, his nobility and chivalrous nature forbade him to stand by and do nothing, though he could bet that his beloved Witch of the Wilds, Morrigan would have called him foolish for such an action.

The first Satyr that he attacked tried to block his attacks, but he cared little for that and began to attack faster and in harder to block angles as well, he moved quickly and as soon as he saw an opening in the creature's actions, he quickly drove Star Fang into it's heart, making the creature cry out as the weapon easily sliced through flesh, bone and organs and was out the back. The Warden wasted no time and quickly pulled out Star Fang and blocked another attack aimed at his person and quickly was beset by two Satyrs, but despite being attacked by two foes at the same time, the Warden kept his cool and focused on fighting the two who have beset him.

He blocked each attack well, relying on training and practical experience and as soon as he spotted an opening, slashed the neck of one of the Satyrs and as it reeled and dropped it's sickle like sword to grasp it's torn open neck, he directed his full attention on the other and after trading blows with it, he sliced off the creature's sword arm with his Family Sword and drove Star Fang through the chest once more, striking the heart and killing the still screaming Satyr. Another fell on him and attacked,, forcing him to roll away to avoid the strike, he then blocked the attack and lashed out with a kick to force the Satyr back.

The creature growled and charged but not before the Warden rolled forward and introduced both blades into the chest of the Satyr and then kicked the creature off both blade and he quickly turned to block another attack by another Satyr, the two traded blows quickly and it was then that another one was about to join it's compatriot to kill him, He saw that he had to act fast and quickly attacked as the Satyr raised it's weapon and he quickly slashed it in the legs forcing it to miss and he quickly side stepped the next attack of the new Satyr and he quickly slashed the creature forcing it back and he quickly closed the gap and drove both swords into the stomach of the creature, he then yanked them out and slashed off the head of the screaming Satyr with his Family Sword and drove Star Fang into the back of the still wounded Satyr.

However, he was soon attacked by three more Satyrs, he deflected the first two but the other one managed to land two slashes on the Warden, one on the right side of his body and another to his right arm, however these didn't stop the Warden as he decided to quickly use the Power of Blood, a gift given to him by the spirit of Avernus, a dead Grey Warden who researched the possible uses of magic and blood to awaken the full power of the Darkspawn blood drank in the Joining by every Grey Warden.

In that moment, he felt the power flow through him and he roared out challenge to the Satyrs and pushed them back and quickly began to cut through them, his speed and dexterity increased tenfold as he became a whirlwind of destruction as the three Satyrs were cut down easily and the rest were soon being assaulted by the warden as he quickly lashed out with both his Family Sword and Starfang as the blood of the Satyrs filled the ground and they fell dead.

However, Damien could feel the strain hit him fast and hard as he felt his stamina and health begin to diminish with each move and he could feel the power of the Blood Talent beginning to fade away from his body. However, he managed to hold on and quickly killed the last of the Satyrs before him with him decapitating the leader with both swords in one fatal strike.

The other Satyrs were stunned by this and retreated quickly, leaving their slain and dying brethren behind as the Grey Warden looked at the dead Satyrs and fell to the ground on his knees, exhausted, both his swords covered in blood and he looked at the Night Elves who were heading towards him as he fell exhausted to the ground.

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Callis and her sisters had watched the Grey Warden fight with amazing skill, in all their years of warfare and vigilance, they had never seen anyone fight like this human, though they were stunned when he suddenly became a whirlwind of destruction and slaughtered the Satyrs as they watched on as he cut them down. As soon as the surviving Satyrs were in full retreat, they moved in and quickly checked the human, his wounds were not grievous to say the least but he was somehow low on life and that shocked the Sentinels considerably.

Callis checked him and found his body to be severely drained and she knew that it had something to do when he was wounded by that Satyr before he slaughtered them. She turned to her sisters and spoke quickly.

"We need to send him to the Druids nearby! Quickly sisters, gather anything that belongs to him and hurry!"

All the women nodded and quickly began to gather his gear, the last thing Damien noticed when he woke up briefly was the fact that his head was on the legs of the Night Elf Commander and he was looking at her undeniably beautiful face while he was also near her….breasts at the same time, allowing him to see them. He had enough time to smile and speak to himself.

(Damn….now that is a sight worth sleeping over….)

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The Night Elves managed to take the Grey Warden to the village of Silverwind Ridge and quickly called some of the nearby Druids to help heal the human, the head Druid was Darken Wolfeye, the old Druid looked at the Warden and had him taken to a nearby house that was not inhabited for the time being. There he and his fellow Druids were busy trying to heal the man, however, it was then that they discovered something of shock and surprise.

As soon as they were done with healing the wounds of the man, the head Druid then decided to speak to Callis.

The Night Elf Sentinel spoke first to the head Druid.

"How is he?"

The elder Druid shook his head a bit and spoke.

"He is fine, his wounds were not fatal thank Elune for that, but he is different."

That was enough to get the attention of the Sentinel and she was curious about what was it that made the head Druid say such a thing.

"Different? How so?"

"it's his blood, it's human well enough from what I can sense, but somehow it's been mixed with another form of blood and is laced with some sort of magical powers, and these have a dark and malevolent taint of some sort."

That worried Callis as she recalled the fury that the warden was in when he slaughtered the Satyrs only hours before and she spoke.

"Taint? Is it of the Legion?"

The head Druid shook his head.

"No….it is something else entirely, something evil yet has no tie to the Legion, nor is it the same as we would find in warlocks, the Undead, the High elves, the Blood Elves or any other race for that matter…he is different yet I sense no evil in his heart despite this taint. How did you find him?"

Callis told Darken everything that happened and the elderly Druid thoughtfully touched his beard and began to think over the implications of the whole event as well.

"You say that he had slaughtered those Satyrs within mere moments?"

"Yes, he however changed the very second the Satyr wounded him, he seemed to be summoning something in himself and then he slaughtered all of them before falling unconscious."

"Hmmm….this is interesting, in all my years of magical study, this is very much unknown to me, I think it would be best that we keep him here, he is tired and exhausted so he must be given sanctuary by us."

"Can we trust him?"

"Honestly young one, that is hard to determine, from what you have told me of this Damien Cousland, he is not from here and his powers are unlike what I know of until we speak to him once he is conscious. For now I suggest a number of guards here in this house in the outside and inside, I will assign one of my apprentice Druids to watch him carefully and tend to him until he recovers."

With that, the two of them entered the house and the head Druid spoke to one of the Druids tending to the warden, a female Druid by the name of Kaisha Mooneye, like her fellow female Night Elf she was tall, lithe, curvaceous, yet muscular and strong, though unlike the Night Elf Sentinel, she wore the robes of a Druid and carried a staff as well as her primary weapon of choice as well as having a pack of herbs and potions on her person.

"Kaisha."

"Yes Elder?"

"I need you to remain here and help tend to our guest, I need to send word to Darnassus and inform Lady Tyrande of him so as to determine who he is and if he is a member of the Alliance."

Kaisha was surprised by this and nodded at the orders of her leader.

"Of course Elder."

Darken then spoke to the Night Elf Sentinel Commander.

"You'll need to be in charge of the security around this man young one, it would be better this way that he awakens to a familiar face than a strange one, I need you to make sure that even though you have discovered his….unique blood traits do not have him feel that he is a prisoner so do not try to threaten him, once I return from Darnassus, then we can try and get some answers from him."

Callis sighed at that and nodded as the Elder Druid left and was soon going to Darnassus and took the form of the Storm Crow and left the building. She then turned to walk away just as Kaisha spoke to her.

"Sister….what do you think of this man?"

Callis looked at the man and then to Kaisha and replied to the Druid's question.

'I do not know, but for now he is under our charge. I'll need to see to the rest of the village, do what you can for him."

"Yes!"

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Two days later…

Damien groaned a bit and opened his eyes, he had to admit that the last thing he expected to see the second he opened his eyes was a roof, this told him that he was in a house of some sort, he felt some level of relief and some worry, it was then that he looked around and then was greeted by the smell of a steaming bowl of food near a table…and the sight of another one of those female purple skinned elves, only this one was dressed robes and what he could see, the furs of animals and carrying a staff of some sort, like the ones he had met before, this woman was lithe, curvaceous and very attractive with the same build as her fellow women, then only difference was her skin tone as a bit lighter and her eyes were glowing amber.

The woman smiled at him and spoke.

"Greetings, I had been worried since you have not awakened in two days, I am Kaisha Mooneye, a Druid of the Night Elves."

This naturally confused Damien as he tried to recall anything in his studies and experiences about this race of Elves that he had just met.

"N-Night elves? I've met many elves from the City and the Dalish territories, but I need to know something….did Alistair take the crown and become king?"

"Who?"

Damien had no idea what was going on here, this elf….purple skinned and gorgeous that he was should know about how the battle had ended.

"Alistair, a templar like me, a Grey Warden and king of Fereldan, did he survive the battle at Ostagar?"

At the looks of confusion of the woman, Damien felt anger rise in him, but quickly submerged it as he tried to think of a more intellectual way to find the answers to the questions that were swarming over his mind at the moment on where he was and what was he doing here in this place. However, his hunger finally got to him and he felt like an idiot and looked at the food and Kaisha nodded.

"It's for you so no need to be shy or anything, I already had my food."

With that the warden quickly ate, his hunger already begging to be satisfied, the Darkspawn taint in his body had the effect of driving him to ravenous hunger and as such he was quick to finish his food, which comprised of hot bread, meat flavored soup, some dried meat that tasted like venison, some cheese and the glass of water that was there. All the while, Kaisha was amazed at how quickly the human ate his food and drank his drink, she had seen warriors who ate greatly when they got back from their battles or adventures but she had never seen anyone eat this quickly before in her life.

As soon as Damien was done, he felt his hunger gnaw at him once more and that was quickly picked up by the Druid and she turned to speak to the nearby guards, one questioned her briefly and she replied in their native tongue and the guard left, minutes later, a large plate of bread and fruit along with some cooked meat was there and Damien ate all of that without any hesitation, much to the amazement of the Night Elves.

He had finished his meal just as two more figures arrived, one was the same Night Elf Sentinel Commander and a massive male who had a beard and was dressed in the same fashion as Kaisha though he seemed to wear more regal versions of the clothes that the younger woman had on her and he carried a more ornate staff than she did. The man looked at him with the same amber eyes as Kaisha and he seemed to have a smile on his face as he spoke.

"Good day to you young man, I am Darken Wolfeye, and I would like to commend you for your appetite, and that is understandable since you have been asleep for two days since you were brought here by Callis."

(He must be referring to the woman I met before.)

Damien smiled a bit and looked at Callis and spoke to her to show that he was grateful for her help.

"Thank you Lady Callis for what you have done. But is my…"

Callis nodded at that and replied.

"Your equipment is here, safe and sound, however, we have questions."

(I was wondering when that was going to happen, well, might as well face the music.)

"I suppose you do."

Darken then spoke to him.

"I do not wish for you to think that you are a prisoner of our people Damien Cousland, you are however an odd person to us and we are merely taking precautions as per our need to be assured that your are not a danger to anyone here."

Damien understood that well enough and could respect that.

"It's all right, but I need to know, where am I?"

Darken sat down on a nearby chair while Callis leaned on the nearby wall next to Kaisha as the elder Druid spoke to their guest.

"You are Silverwind Ridge, a village of my people, the Kal'dorei or as humans here in Kalimdor know as the Night Elves, and I am head Druid here in this village, Kaisha is one of my students and Callis is a commander in our military forces known as the Sentinels. Judging from your garb and the way you act, you do not seem to be from the lands of the humans, so where did you come from young man?"

Damien decided that he might as well tall them what they needed to know about him, if they knew anything about the aftermath in the battle at Ostagar, then maybe they could help him in any fashion, he had a feeling that he might have somehow been sent into another part of Thedas, or at another continent for that matter, so telling them everything he knew just might help him in some fashion.

"it's a very long story you know."

Darken smiled at that and replied.

"I have lived for a very long time young man, I have all the time in the world for long stories."

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To be continued….

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That takes care of that prologue, now on to the character.

Damien as you can see is the Human Noble Grey Warden and is something of a noble person and does the good things most would expect of a noble, though this is balanced by being practical at the same time as he does have a relationship with Morrigan which is how he survives the slaying of the Archdemon.

Cardos is the name of his Mabiri War hound and he will make an appearance soon enough as the war hound will be the only character from the Dragon Age Universe who will be in the story. Also the Power of Blood is present and due to some twist in the power that sent the Grey Warden into the world of Warcraft, it will undergo some changes as well as have some powers of my own creation, however, most of them will be draining of the health of our hero in keeping true to the origin of the Power of Blood.

Damien as a Warrior class and he has two Specializations, that of the Templar and that of the Champion so he's centered as a leader and a mage slayer, he will have all the abilities of said classes as well and as you have read is a master in both Dual Wielding, and has advanced training in Archery, as well as Mastery in Combat Tactics and Combat Training, and lastly some skills in Coercion, Herbalism, and Survival. This makes him a deadly fighter in his own right so we'll just have to wait and see how he plays in the World of Warcraft.

As for pairings….that's up to me at this point but feel free to comment on it if you want to have your own say in the matter.


	2. Story of the Warden

World of Warcraft Dragon Age Origins: The Lost Warden

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age Origins or World of Warcraft so don't ask me if I did…

Chapter 1

The story of the Warden

( ): Thoughts

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Damien thought over what he needed to say as the Night Elves waited patiently for him to speak, he thought over everything carefully and decided to tell them who he once was so long ago before the night that he and his family had been betrayed.

"My name is Damien Cousland as you already know, my father, Bryce Cousland was the Teyrn of the land of Highever of Ferelden, my family ruled the lands of Highever with justice and temperance as we were one the strongest noble families in the kingdom of Ferelden and had been loyal servants of the crown for many generations, our ancestors fought alongside the other families to ensure the freedom of our lands and the freedom of Ferelden."

"My father and mother ruled our homes well for the number of years they had lived and my brother Fergus will be next in line as Teyrn, but that was when the threat of the Blight occurred."

This got the attention of the Night Elves easily enough and the Druid was the first to speak.

"The Blight? What is that?"

Damien sighed as he recalled that it was the rise of the Fifth Blight that had started the whole events that had taken his family from him, his home and more. He however knew that he had finally avenged his family helped end the civil war and more besides, there was no other reason for him not to talk about the event itself.

"The Blight is when the Darkspawn found one of the Old Gods, corrupted it and turned it into an Archdemon, and with that creature leading them, they would rise from the Deep Roads in all their tainted and corrupted might and hatred of the living, and swarm over the lands and destroy all they touched. The very world is sickened by that event as the water sours, plants spoil and die, the sky darkens, and storms of dark and malevolent intent rush through the skies itself, animals are sickened and corrupted into ravenous evil mockeries of what they once were, survivors of the Blight dragged away to a horrific fate, and the very earth withers and blackens as if infected, the clouds allow the Darkspawn to spread quickly and spread their disease and corruption far and wider as they slaughter all in their path….THAT is the Blight. I was there when the Fifth Blight came at full force to the lands of my people, my father gathered his warriors and my brother in order to summon the call of our previous king….King Cailan to fight this threat."

Callis then spoke as she found this interesting enough to warrant her participation.

"What are these Darkspawn you speak of?"

Damien recalled the various kinds of Darkspawn that he had faced and slain with his weapons and skills before and he shuddered a bit at the memories that those creatures had brought to his mind but he focused on what the Night Elf had asked of him and thus began to provide the answers she and her fellow elves asked of him.

"The Darkspawn….are a collection beings who are corrupted beyond the wildest nightmares of any mortal, they were….men once, elves, quanri, dwarves, and mages, twisted by the very taint that they are forced to endure. The stories about their origins depend on who you ask, to the dwarves, the Darkspawn just suddenly appeared therein the Deep Roads, and that time, they plundered and ravaged the cities and cut off the dwarves from their fellow kin and the surface, forcing them fight a war of attrition. For the Chantry, they believed that the first Darkspawn were the Mage leaders of the old Tevinter Imperium, these men were taught by the fallen Old Gods the arts of magic, and convinced them that they deserved to wield the power of the Maker himself, the Old Gods taught them how to enter the Fade physically to enter the Golden City in physical form, something that is forbidden to all mortal beings…"

"Golden City?"

"The home of the Maker, the Chantry stated that in their arrogance and hubris, these Magisters entered the City hoping to take over the throne of the Maker, they failed in doing so and only succeeded in angering the Maker and in the Makers own words, he told them to gaze at the glory that their arrogance had corrupted as the Golden City was tainted by their presence and their evil intent and eventually became the Black City, the stuff of corruption and nightmares, for it had come to an end and forever will they bear the weight of their sins. The Maker cast out the Magisters from the Fade and they were cursed, fleeing into the darkness of the ground, these former men were twisted by the taint like a disease that spreads through the body and soul….they were twisted into mockeries and corrupted versions of themselves….they became the first Darkspawn."

The Elves were silent as Damien continued to speak about the creatures themselves.

'When the Darkspawn take prisoners, the men of any race will die a lingering death and become nothing more than corpses….but the women suffer a far worse fate….they are turned into Broodmothers, grotesque mockeries of who they once were and are used to breed even more of the Darkspawn by the thousands, those human women taken and turned into Broodmothers create the Hurlocks, Dwarven women then produce Genlocks, Elven women create the Shrieks, and the women on the Quanri produce Ogres. Through this corrupted method of creation and spawning, the Darkspawn unleash their terror and madness into the world under the command of their leaders and that of the Archdemon, when not in a Blight, they would war among themselves and raid the villages and cities of the Dwarves, but only when the Blight occurs that they rise in full power to attack the living in the surface."

Darken ran his hands through his beard slowly, digesting all that the human had just told them, he knew nothing of these Darkspawn nor the lands and people that the young man spoke of, though he could see that the young man had no lie in his words, as he had lived for some time, the Druid had developed a considerable level of familiarity on how to tell of someone who was telling the truth before him, and this man told the truth. He spoke then to him, in an effort to find out more of the man's true nature.

"I see….how do you know of these Darkspawn so well?"

Damien looked at the Druid and replied to the question.

"Because I have fought them, and I have killed many of them in my time for how short it might be, I have seen the horrors they can inflict on all life, regardless of race and that is why I know them well."

Kaisha was silent the whole time and then spoke to him.

"How did you get involved in all of this?"

Damien sighed and decided to tell his own tale so they would be able to understand the circumstances that led to the events that shaped his time as a noble and up to the very moment he joined the Grey Wardens in order to fight the full might of the Darkspawn.

"As I said before about who I was, and where I came from, I was the youngest son of Bryce and Eleanor Cousland of Highever, during the rise of the Fifth Blight, my father answered the summons of King Cailan to ride out with all the soldiers our family could spare to help bolster the forces needed to strike down the Blight before it could truly gather the momentum needed to attack the surface world at full force. My brother Fergus was to be part of the force while I remained with the soldiers under my command and Sir Gilmore to hold the fort with my mother. We had guests at the time there as well, one of whom was the Grey Warden assigned to help train the new Grey Wardens in Ferelden, Duncan. He sought to recruit Sir Gilmore and even suggested me, and despite my father's respect for the Grey Wardens, he refused that for the time being."

"However, that decision was taken from my father's hands when the forces of our former ally Arl Rendon Howe came and attacked our home, killing many people, including the guests of my mother….as well as my brother's wife and his son, my mother and I fought our way to support the others and then we found my father, badly wounded and there I was forced to leave them behind to survive and avenge my family and become a Grey Warden. That is how I finally came face to face with the Darkspawn and after helping gain the alliance of the Elves, of both the Dalish and the Alienage, the dwarves, and the Mages, I and my companions defeated the one who had betrayed us and the king to death by the Darkspawn, had Alistair, a fellow templar, half brother of King Cailan and son of King Maric eventually fought in the battle of Ostagar…and then….landed here."

The Night Elves took the time patiently to think over what to make of this information as they had NO idea on what to do with this stranger, clearly this human was not from around here and was unknown to them all, however it was then that the Druid spoke about the one things that all of them were rather curious about, the taint in his blood.

"I see, this might take some time for me to absorb, however there is another matter, while we were tending to your injuries, we detected something wrong with your blood, it is human well enough, but there is some power there, dark and strong, as well as….tainted."

"I'm not surprised you found that, it is….the result of the ceremony in joining the Grey Wardens."

Callis was surprised and raised one of her eye brows at this and spoke seriously.

"Who exactly are the Grey Wardens?"

Damien decided to tell them what he could, while also keeping secret some of the other things that would be best kept secret about the Grey Wardens.

"The Grey Wardens are an order that formed in order to fight the growing threat of the Darkspawn; they were founded nearly six hundred years ago, during the very first Blight that happened in the lands of Thedas. They were comprised of soldiers and mages from the Imperium, they were humans, dwarves, and elves who had faced decades of warfare against the Darkspawn during the ninety years of the First Blight when all hope faded away from all people, from the lowest slave to the highest noble and king. The soldiers and mages spent hours in discussion and when they were done, they severed themselves from the Imperium and were soldiers no more…they were Grey Wardens, dedicated to eradicating the Darkspawn until not a single one of them were left alive,"

"The very first battle of the Grey Wardens in the Darkspawn held city of Nordbotten was a powerful victory and in that moment, they were supported by the various nations of Thedas with equipment, food, recruits, and funds, the Grey Wardens continued to fight the Blight for many years, gaining and losing ground, flying into battle on the back of griffon mounts to challenge the Archdemon Dumat and his hordes for another one hundred years, they led all races in battle after battle until they were finally able to strike down the Archdemon and send the Darkspawn on the run."

"This carried on through the other Blights that occurred in the history of Thedas, until the Fourth Blight that resulted in such a slaughter of the Darkspawn that people believed that the Blights were ended forever and eventually the Grey wardens were seen as nothing more than obsolete relics of the past. That was proven wrong when the Fifth Blight rose up once again under the leadership of the Archdemon Urthemiel, this was the Blight that I had fought in and thankfully we were able to stop it before it gathered the momentum, but many of the Wardens were slain since then, only I and Alistair remain alive of the Wardens."

Darken thought that information over and spoke once more.

"Interesting history you have mentioned there, but I am curious about this taint in your blood, if it is the result of the Grey warden initiation ceremony, then what is it?"

The Grey Warden however shook his head.

"That will remain a secret I am afraid to say, there are some things about the Grey Wardens that must remain a secret no matter the situation one finds himself or herself in, suffice to say, it is the price that all Grey Wardens must pay in order to fight the Darkspawn, even if it leads to our deaths at some point in life. The only things I can say is that it allows us to sense Darkspawn and make us immune to the Blight. That is all you are going to get from me."

The Night Elves saw that he was very serious about that part of the discussion and decided not to press further into their inquires of the young man and they allowed him to relax as they all saw that he was not liking the memories that his discussion with them about himself had brought back to his mind, Kaisha reached out touched the man's hand in a gesture of sympathy and she spoke.

"We are sorry if our inquiries have troubled you, but it was needed to know you a bit more."

Damien gave a small smile as he could tell that the amber eyes Druidess meant those words and he nodded.

"It's all right, but I need to get up for now, I never had a love of being kept in bed for the duration of the day, but before I do, I need to know where I am."

Callis then replied to that as she looked at the Grey Warden.

"One thing we can tell you for an absolute certainty is that you are no longer in the world you were once part of."

"What do you mean?"

The Night Elves then decided to tell him just where he was and all there was that they felt that he needed to know about the world he had landed in, the Grey Warden was utterly stunned by the fact that he was in a totally different world where none of the things he knew of and the places he had been to before in his youth and in his travels were no longer there, he was in a completely different world entirely and that meant that all of his companions didn't exist here at all, his home didn't exist….it was too much to take, and by the time it was nearly over, Damien spoke slowly with absolute shock.

"By the Maker….how….how could this have happened?"

The Night Elves could see that the young man was in absolute shock by the news that they had given him and they couldn't help but wonder if telling him those things was the wisest of moves that they have done, but now the needed to discuss thing between themselves and as such left Damien alone, but not before Callis instructed her fellow Sentinels to keep an eye on Damien lest he did something that would be considered a danger to their people.

--------

Later…

The three Night Elves were in another part of the house wand were deep in discussion and trying to determine the best course of action dealing with their new found guest. Darken had already spoken to them about Tyrande's decision and naturally Callis was not quite happy with what the High Priestess had decided on what should be done with the human that they had found in their lands.

"I still think that he should be sent back to where he came from."

"And exactly where do we send him Commander?"

The elder Druid sighed as he placed down his staff and cracked his knuckles as he thought about Tyrande's instructions, the Druid had arrived in Darnassus during a routine discussion between Tyrande and the Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm. The discussion was heated and had been filled with some degree of heavy tension between both leaders, and it made Darken sigh a bit at the memory.

Fandral had always been a stiff traditionalist and a supremacist of their race and believed that they were the true masters of being Druids as well as them being the superior race in all the lands of Azeroth and he had always valued a more direct approach and more aggressive tactics. He had been Malfurion's lieutenant and had been a very capable Druid and had a hand in training many of the Druids as well as himself, however, the elder Druid had a level of disappointment for Fandral, there was no doubt of his power and dedication but his aggressive tactics and arrogance in his views had been a problem which would come back to haunt them all, that much was certain in the elder Druid's mind.

With Malfurion gone, Fandral took the position vacated by his former leader and had created the new World Tree that became the Night Elf Capital of Darnassus, but unlike those who followed Fandral, Darken knew that their actions were not sanctioned by the spirits of nature and was a selfish plan to hold onto their immortality, something that would no doubt come to haunt them.

He waited as soon as the two had parted and he spoke to Tyrande, as soon as he was finished with his report on the finding of the young man named Damien, Tyrande ordered him to return and have the Sentinels keep him under observation and escort him where he would go as long as he was not going against the laws and customs of their people as well as harming anyone.

He couldn't help but feel that with all that was happening around her, Tyrande was too bogged down to bother with such details, and despite his own thoughts on the matter, he agreed and left back to Silverwind Ridge to give his report as well as check on the young man. And how here he was, dealing with the two women.

Callis shook her head and tried to think of an answer, she didn't fully trust this human and his story of being from another world, the Darkspawn and the Blight , as well as everything else seemed too far fetched even to her and she was more than willing to make that very clear to the people before her.

"But how can we be sure that he is not some agent of the Legion? For all we know, his powers could be the product of demonic taint."

Callis was speaking about the methods used by the outcast sect of the demon Hunters, fellow Night Elves, male and female who had made a dark pact to fight the Burning Legion with their own power, they were formed in honor of one of the most skilled Night Elves of the past, the arcane wielding Illidan Stormrage long ago, who used the very powers of the Legion to face them in battle. The new Demon Hunters gained their powers in a much different manner that the one who inspired them to take this pledge by ritually binding into their bodies the energies of a slain demon that they have captured and used to give them the ability for seeing demons and developing unique powers. While only Night Elves were known to make up most of the Demon Hunter ranks, she had heard of other races who had taken that call.

While she admitted to herself that the skills of the Demon Hunters were quite effective in fighting the Legion's forces and the powers of evil, she felt very much at ill ease to know that they had willingly wielded the powers of darkness and she knew how the power of evil would corrupt even the most dedicated of souls. And even if Demon Hunter stated that their allegiance and personality had never changed, she knew that many others apart from her doubted that claim.

Darken knew full well what Callis was referring to and spoke.

"I do not believe that Damien is like them, even if his blood is tainted by an evil presence, it's completely unlike the fel energy of the Burning Legion, if it was, we Night Elves would be able to know it. And if he is telling the truth, then I believe that considering how desperate the situation was for all the races in his realm, then the actions of the Grey Wardens were legitimate and the only option, besides, unlike the Demon Hunters here in Azeroth, the Grey Wardens are respected and seen as heroes who will give their lives to save their world."

Callis sighed a bit at this and tried to make some plans on what to do with him, he couldn't remain with them indefinitely as it were and they were still driven by their mission to safeguard the lands of their people from those who would dare to despoil it.

Kaisha then spoke to the others.

"How could we even send him back? We do not have the kind of power needed for such a task, and since we do not know where this….Thedas is, how can we send him there."

"Kaisha is correct, we do not have that kind of power to open such portals, only arcane magic could be able to open a portal of that magnitude and even then, we know little of this world to allow us to open a proper portal there. For now we must keep him under observation and ensure that he is given time to adjust and is escorted until he makes a decision on what he will do while he is here."

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In his room…

Damien looked once more at the architecture of the house that he was currently resting in, trying to find anything that would seem familiar to his senses, but nothing was familiar as the design of the house was not Fereldan, Orlesian, Dwarven, anything that he knew about construction was not found in the entire place, there was nothing that he could see that was the same as the ones he had seen in his younger days and through his travels with his group. He was still trying to grasp the fact that he was in a completely different world from the one that he knew of.

He tried to find out if they were lying to him, that they were part of some elaborate plot of some sort, but his practical mind told him otherwise and he was unable to handle it and closed his eyes, thinking that he should rest and figure out what to do from here.

(If they were telling the truth about me being in another world… then what do I do? Where do I go?)

Damien knew that if this was the truth, he was very much an alien to this world and had nowhere to go and nothing to do, even if he did have his skills, abilities, experiences, and the powers of his Darkspawn taint in him, they were not going to help him in the slightest in this world, he was a Grey Warden, a warrior dedicated to the destruction of the Darkspawn and then he would hear the Calling and travel into the Deep Roads to fight them and meet his end in the fashion befitting a hero and a Grey Warden.

But now….here he was in a completely different world and there was nothing here that he knew, no Darkspawn, no Blight, his family didn't exist here at all, his comrades didn't exist, the land he called home didn't exist….everything he knew was gone and didn't belong here. Where did that leave him in this case?

The Grey Warden then tried to reach out with his ability to sense the Darkspawn and found nothing….not a single hint of the Darkspawn presence he had gotten quite used to feeling since he had taken up arms alongside the other Grey Wardens before they were betrayed by Loghain, this sense had saved him more than once in battle with the Darkspawn in the darkest places where the vile bastards hid, and now it was nigh useless to him. He didn't know what to do at this moment, it was a feeling that felt totally alien to him.

Even before becoming a Grey Warden, he had purpose and direction in his life, to find a wonderful woman to love and raise a family with like his brother Fergus did with his wife, to help lead the lands of his family and give their subjects the justice and leadership that had made them beloved by their people, and to one day be a worthy son to the Cousland name….those things were nearly lost when Howe and his forces betrayed them in the night and before Duncan came to take him away to join the Grey Wardens.

After that tragedy, he vowed to avenge his family, all of them once the battle at Ostagar was over and he as well as his brother Fergus would make Howe pay with his life for this betrayal, then he lost his brother in a battle and then the betrayal of one of the men he had respected in battle hit hard, only by the actions of Morrigan and Flemeth did he and Alistair survive the danger that they found themselves in. That landed him in a quest to gather allies to fight the Darkspawn as well as have an number of comrades who would be able to help him weather this war and not only avenge his family, but the king, and help bring the kingdom together to face the threat.

His group comprised of a former Templar who became his best friend and the half brother of the king and rightful heir to the throne of Ferelden, a Fereldan woman who grew up in Orlais and became a skilled bard with a shady past, a quanri warrior who lost his sword and as such, his soul, a mage and spirit healer who was like a grandmother to him and Alistair and living on borrowed time, a former living female dwarf turned golem with a very disturbing hatred for birds of any kind, a disgraced dwarf berserker with a love for drink and a good battle as well as being a real ass at times, an elven assassin sent to kill him but he spared and became a good ally and someone he trusted well, and lastly, the daughter of Flemeth herself, a cold but strong and beautiful shape shifter named Morrigan.

From this band, he had forged alliances, gained friendship, support, and family, as well as love, though Morrigan tried to show that she cared little for that, they had worked together to this final end, to bring down the Blight before it began, and Alistair, after some careful discussion, taking the reins as the new king.

And now….here he was….all alone in a brand new world that was unlike his own….where did that leave him? He closed his eyes and fell asleep as he couldn't help try and find a way to make sense of this whole thing. He needed answers on how he came into this world but where could possibly get them?

--------

In the dream world…

Damien looked about and found himself in a sea of black….and around him were the stars, he felt….weightless somehow but when he moved his hands and feet, he felt something solid, he didn't know what to make of this and looked about.

(Where in the name of the Maker am I now?)

"That is a good question young man?"

Damien turned and to his surprise….there before him walked a woman who was dressed in the same clothing as Leliana wore when she first joined their group all those weeks before when he had recovered from the battle that nearly claimed him and Alistair. But when he looked a bit closer, he was shocked to find her to be someone he was easily able to recognize, and how could he not? After all….it was she who was said to be the wife of the Maker himself in the spiritual sense, she was the one who started the rebellion against the Tevinter Imperium and founded the Chantry itself.

The woman was beautiful and had golden hair that seemed to be like golden flame as she moved towards him a sword in her hand bathed in flame and her eyes showed compassion tempered with zeal and courage, Damien could only utter one word and it was the woman's name.

"Andraste…."

The woman stopped and smiled at him and replied.

"Greetings to you Damien Cousland, I see that you're studies in the religion of the Maker have not faded away."

Damien was dumbfounded by all this, before him was the prophet who's remains that were turned into ash, he had used to cure Arl Eamon, the man who was like a father to Alistair. He didn't know what to do, was this an illusion caused by some demon from the Fade? Or was it a chance for the Old Gods to torture him for slaying another of their kindred?

"Who….or what are you?"

The woman smiled and replied.

"You need not fear me child, I am truly Andraste and yes, the Maker is my husband, after my death, I was able to be with him in this world and there, we watched the world that he created move on, hoping that one day, humanity would turn away from sin and corruption and be one with him once more. You no doubt have questions as to why you were there in that place yes?"

"I….what happened to me?"

Andraste moved her free hand and behind Damien came a chair from nothing and she did the same to summon another chair next to her as she sat down.

"It would be best if we sat down young one, though anything is possible here in the realm of my husband, I still prefer to sit down when speaking."

Damien didn't argue with her and sat down, amazed the find that the chair was indeed real and not a figment of his imagination. As soon as he was there, Andraste spoke to him gently.

"During the final battle, my husband and I watched as you and your fellow Wardens and those you have rallied to fight the Blight and Urthemiel himself, we saw that he had planned to kill you for taking his life, but he sensed the fact that you could no longer die as he couldn't take your soul in retribution for making the killing blow….no doubt because of your….relationship with the woman you know as Morrigan."

Damien was stunned by this….he had been watched by both the Maker and Andraste?!

The woman smiled and replied.

"Yes, we were watching and we knew that you would be the only Grey Warden to strike down an Old God and yet live….it was something that Urthemiel could never abide by and he readied a spell that was to end your life the very second you were to take that sword and unleash the energy that was part of his release. Even if you had survived from the spell, the raw energy would have placed you in the very jaws of death itself. Your fate would have been bleak indeed young Cousland, but my husband had better plans for you and decided to step in, he and I saved your soul and your body, taking you away at that very moment and brought you here….and it is for a reason."

The Grey Warden was silent at this and as soon as he gathered his wits about him, he spoke once more to find out what was this reason that Andraste spoke of.

"You brought me here for a reason? What is it?"

"This world, Azeroth is located within the leylines of power which would lead to countless other worlds, and one such world is our own, my husband feels that this makes our world very vulnerable to attack from beings beyond this world, he felt that even if the Old Gods were finally defeated and the Darkspawn lose their power to wage war, then if they were able to side with the beings of darkness that live beyond this world, then the realms he made would be in grave danger, all life would be in danger, and that is cannot abide. This world's species however have done something that is impressive, they have held the wave of evil back and prevented the Burning Legion from overwhelming them."

"The Burning Legion?"

Andraste showed him the images of the Burning Legion, the various races that formed the force of evil that laid waste to countless worlds, bringing entropy, death, chaos and suffering to all that they touched and the creatures that they corrupted into their service. Damien looked at the Burning Legion with some level of shock and disbelief and it was then that Andraste spoke to him seriously.

"The beings of Azeroth have withstood the power of the Burning Legion despite the odds that have been stacked before them and in doing so have managed to do the impossible, they had killed one of the leaders of the Legion."

Andraste showed Damien the events of the past, the founding of Azeroth after the defeat of the Old Gods, the Council of Tirisfal, the rise of the Guardians who fought The leader of the Legion the fallen Titan Sargeras, the corruption of the Orcs who were tempted by power from the Legion, the Wars that happened and finally the defeat of Archimonde in the battle over the World Tree itself. As the images flowed around him as he sat there, the Grey Warden was amazed by all that he had born witness to and when it ended, Andraste spoke to him once again.

"This is a sign of the great destiny that this world and it's people can achieve, but as you yourself know, the powers of evil never truly fade away, they only await a better time, they plan new terrors, breed new weapons and more besides. Sargeras hungers for revenge against the only world that has dared to stop his Burning Crusade, and soon there will come a time that he will return and strike at the world anew, and there will be other threats as well. My husband and I chose you to help the races of this world to stand once more and defy the Legion once they return into the world at full force. You have done things in Thedas that have proven to my husband and I that you can help them plan and prepare on their own time."

Damien couldn't help himself and spoke out in surprise.

"Me?! I am but a man who now has no place to call home! Begging your forgiveness, but what can I possibly do to help these beings? And why do I have to? They allied once to fight the Burning Legion, can they not do it again?"

"By rights they could, but the bitter fruits of the past, it's seeds sown by the Legion have not been destroyed. The scars of the previous wars have never healed properly and the alliances of the races have all but been in word only. They are no longer united in action, thought and spirit, they need to be reminded about the need to stand as one when the forces of the Legion and those with dark intent rise up once more. You have helped the various factions of Thedas work side by side to face the Darkspawn threat even when the world believed that there would be no more Blight and that the Wardens were no longer needed, and you did more than that."

"You took a group of people of different motives, different thoughts, and origins, and forged them into a force that have proven key in allying the races to fight the Darkspawn and Urthemiel, and you have the strongest gift all, you have the will to do what is needed to fight the foes before you… yet you willingly take the responsibility of your actions that do not work well and carry it to remind you of what you must do and not do, you retain your desire for justice and temperance and mix it with practicality and planning. That is needed to help the two sides fight the Burning Legion and the many other threats that seek to destroy them from outside and within. This is a difficult duty for any single man to bear, but we both have faith that you are more than up to the task."

Damien was still stunned by all this and tried to understand the task given to him by both Andraste and the Maker, the woman noted that and Andraste spoke to him once more.

"You will be given the power necessary to do this, while my husband cannot reverse the taint of the blood of the Darkspawn that you have drank in your joining, we can prevent it from further corrupting you and you will be given powers that will give you the edge needed to fight the threats that you shall face in the times to come. Your powers will awaken in time, and they will each aid you. However, you know that this power must be used wisely for it will drain you of your stamina and at times, your very life force. Some of your new powers will not harm you, and those powers will prove invaluable in seeking out the evils before you."

"These powers shall in turn aid you in securing the allegiance of those who you will need to help ready for the threat of the Legion and those who seek to rend apart Azeroth and destroy all resistance for their plans. You have to serve their leaders well and show to their people the power of working side by side no matter the dangers that they will be drawn into. Your success with your allies and the races you aided in Thedas have taught you want must be done."

"You must show them that despite the past, they are bound to this world they now call home, and as such, they have a common enemy in the Legion and more so with those beings of evil or those swayed to side with evil. Now, I believe that you wish to know about the fates of your companions?"

The Grey Warden was shaken out of the train of thoughts he had in his head and nodded eagerly, he wanted to know how his friends were handling the situation now that he was supposed to be dead.

"I am."

Andraste smiled and spoke to him.

"Your brother Fergus still lives, he was found by the Chasind and brought back to health though he had been bed ridden for some time since the ambush that claimed him and his men. He now serves as Teyrn to your father's lands and vows to rebuild the Cousland name."

"My brother is alive?!"

"Yes, he was there to see to your….funeral, and vowed to rebuild the Couslands, he will have a hard task ahead of him, but he will succeed."

Damien smiled with absolute relief, the knowledge that his brother was still alive and was rebuilding their home eased a great deal of weight from his shoulders. He then thought of the others.

"What of Alistair, and his new bride Anora?"

"Your friend Alistair and Queen Anora are still king and queen of Ferelden, and in honor of your friendship and your efforts to help him make it as king in your unwavering belief that he would make a good king, he has taken the time to study governance, surprising all who knew him. He does this for your memory and he now rules in peace and cooperation with Anora. She too is impressed with the actions taken by your friend and there is no tension between the two of them."

Damien smiled happily, he had to admit that he had been worried about Anora being rough with Alistair, but it had changed and he felt that it had worked out, but he was curious about Anora's own train of thought, Andraste somehow sensed it and replied.

"Anora's dislike of you has lessened, considering that you have given up much and she has agreed that her father had taken is actions too far, resulting in so many innocents dead, she still holds him in high regard, as would a daughter idolize a father. But she now focuses on helping repair the damage done to Ferelden."

Andraste saw the smile in Damien's voice and she too smiled at that as she continued.

"Your Quanri friend, Sten as you know him has returned to his people with his honor and soul restored, retrieving his sword has done more good than you know young one. He has returned to his lands and when he was asked by his people if he had found true warriors in Ferelden, he spoke of you as the best warrior of all the lands of Ferelden, this has given your name honor and respect among Sten' people."

"I see…what of Morrigan?"

"She wanders the Wilds as before, keeping away from the world of men, but you have changed her. Despite her desire never to feel love, she has felt it, and once it had frightened her, but that is no longer the case, as she saw you 'die'….she felt great regret and sadness, and in honor of your memory and your love for her….despite your differences, she vowed to teach her child the good qualities of the world of men and to honor the man who gave her this gift. She loves you still and while she will never truly show it to anyone, she will remember you well to the end of her days."

Damien couldn't help but smile and feel relieved at that, and it made him feel happy to some degree as he looked to the ring that Morrigan had left him.

"What of Leliana?"

"She has never forgotten your support of her and your aid in putting the past behind her, giving her the chance to start life anew in all sense of the word. She carries memories of your friendship though she wished it could have been something more. However she will never forget you and will continue to sing tales of the adventures you and she had with the others for those willing to hear of the tales, she will remember you even as she will wander the world to see more of it."

"And Wynne?"

"She takes your place as Chancellor at Alistair's side, serving him as an advisor while also making sure to help him in the art of ruling the Kingdom with both a Commoner's touch and that of a true king. She serves as a teacher, healer, grandmother and more for your friend and serves to the best of her abilities for the Circle Mages that you have spared in your task to help them, and for that she is grateful for what time she has left."

The Grey Warden recalled what he had learned about Wynne's condition and he was happy that she was indeed using her time well.

"What of Oghren?"

"Your dwarf comrade has been able to adjust to the surface world and is now a dedicated leader of the human armies of Ferelden, though his love for battle and drink has only increased. He now has a child with the woman you have helped him court and he has named the child after you, in honor of your efforts and friendship with him. He will serve the armies well, though he will get in more drinking bouts than most would care to think."

"Heh, that sounds just like Oghren all right…what of Shale?"

"The Golem will travel the world, seeking out the purpose it need s to continue living, along the way it will aid others in plight though many birds will suffer it's attacks as it will not be able to abide the presence of the birds."

Damien shook his head at that and hoped that Shale would not get into too much trouble.

"What of Zevran?"

"Your assassin ally serves the crown of Fereldan now, as Alistair's spy and agent in the lands beyond Ferelden, his knowledge of the Crows will serve to defend those loyal to Alistair and Alistair himself as well as Anora. He will become a trusted ally of Alistair due to the friendship they have and Zevran's respect to your actions of sparing his life and gaining his trust. He will also serve to aid in the recruitment of new wardens though he himself does not join them. It seems that your discussion with him finding work in the Ferelden court was well founded."

Damien nodded at that as he recalled asking Zevran if he wouldn't mind working the courts of Ferelden to help Alistair and keep him alive. The elf laughed at first but then agreed to it to some extent and that was that, now it seemed that his old elven friend was taking the job rather seriously from the sound of things.

He couldn't help but feel a great deal of weight fly off his shoulders and that was enough to get him to focus on the task that was now being handed to him by the Maker and Andraste herself.

"I am going to need quite a number of things if I am going to do this, I certainly can't win with just the gear I have. Like Alistair said, No Grey Warden cannot hope to fight the Blight without half a dozen nations' armies fighting with them, and this can be the very same thing. Added to the fact that I have limited funds for this thing, no matter how powerful I am, I need funds and resources to build a force strong enough to fight the Legion and any other threats that may rise up."

Andraste nodded at that and replied.

"I am aware of your needs young one, but I have no doubts that you can find ways to raise the funds, materials, and weapons that you need. For now, I shall awaken your powers."

Andraste stood up and readied her sword as she explained the ritual that was about to happen to Damien.

"Since you are here, I will use my sword to enflame your spirit, this in turn will affect your body, more specifically the blood of the Darkspawn that flows in your veins, the power of the flame of the Maker will work it's way through both your spirit and your body to give you the blessing of the Maker to wield the power, this will not be easy young one, this is new to me as it is to you, but it must be done."

"I understand, I am a Cousland, and a Grey Warden…I am ready for this."

Andraste smiled sadly and readied the sword and gently placed it on his chest and then with one fell strike, the wife of the Maker plunged the sword into the chest of the Grey Warden, no blood flowed from the wound however and the Damien's surprise, there was no pain at first, except a burning sensation that was mild, almost unnoticeable to him. As soon as the blade was through him the woman spoke gently as she made a prayer.

"Now brace yourself for the flame of the Maker young one, and may the Maker protect you."

That was when the true test occurred.

--------

In the realm of the living…

The Night Elf guards were about to trade places with their comrades and watch the outside of the house when the human resting on the bed suddenly roared out in a violent scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The two guards were shocked as bluish lines of power flowed through the young man's body as a burning symbol appeared on his chest in that moment, resembling a blazing sun with a red circle around it, the guards were soon joined by the two Druids and the Sentinel Commander. Callis, Darken, and Kaisha were stunned at the sight before them, they had just finished their key discussion on the fate of Damien when the shouting came out and they quickly rushed to the room and they were all stunned by the sight before them as Damien was still gripped in what was some sort of transformation, Kaisha wanted to try and help him but she was then held back by the senior Druid and by Callis as well.

As for the Grey Warden he continued to shout in pain as the power flowed though his body and his spirit, he thought about what he had agreed to and how he would accomplish what the Maker and Andraste had asked of him, it would be a hard life….but he had accepted it even if he felt that he was not fully qualified , The pain was the same as the pain he had endured during the Joining but this was far more intense and as he opened his eyes, he saw the world once more, but it was in a haze of pure blue fire and he could SEE the Night Elves before him like living beings of flame.

Callis looked on and spoke out.

"By Elune…what is going on here?!"

She quickly turned to the guards to find out what had happened to their charge, but when she looked at their faces, she could see that even they had no idea as to what was going on before them, she looked at Kaisha and Darken and even they had no idea what to make of the event before them all. However as soon as it had happened, the young man suddenly fell back into the bed, the glowing bluish lines in his body fading while the sun symbol faded and he fell back into the bed without a sound.

Darken and Kaisha quickly rushed over to check on him and so did Callis while the other Night Elves were still trying to make sense of what had happened, on the outside of the house, many of the villagers were stunned and looked at the house with fear and foreboding as they had no idea what had been the cause of this and it took some prodding by the guarding Night Elf Sentinels to have them leave.

The two Druids were quick to check on the young man and found him to be calm but his body seemed to have taken a very high temperature, almost as if he was having a very high fever and his very flesh seemed to be on fire though it had not actually burst into flames at the moment. The Elder Druid had no idea what to make of the event but he could tell that the man was not suffering too badly and seemed to be alive still, as soon as he was done, he spoke out to the two.

"He seems to be all right for the time being, still, something is amiss with this whole situation…what happened to him while he was here in this room and we were outside of it as well?"

Callis then spoke to the other guards who had managed to relax well enough for them tive their commander a full account of what had just happened in the room, she then moved back to the bed and replied.

"The guards said that he just rose up from the bed screaming briefly and the they saw those lines of blue in his body and then the symbol appeared, just as we have seen for ourselves as well, something tells me that this was the work of some form of magic…"

Kaisha then touched Damien's forehead and noted that the temperature and heat was dying down and returning to normal levels and she sighed in relief, the sight of the young man being like that had shocked her to the core, as like all Druids, she cared for life and what she had seen in that moment was difficult to bear, she was no stranger to war, but she still found herself a bit uncomfortable with the whole scene that she had looked at.

It was then that Damien's eyes opened and he spoke slowly.

"What….happened…?"

Darken then spoke gently to the young man.

"Easy there young one you had quite an experience only a few moments before, what happened to you?"

"i….don't know…."

Callis had her doubts on that but decided to reserve her judgment for now, but then Damien's eyes suddenly glowed blue….as blue as the ocean with wisps of glowing blue mist coming out from the, startling everyone in the room and Damien looked around for a brief moment and then stopped at the left wall and he gazed there for a moment and he spoke.

"There a force coming this way….Satyrs."

That was enough to surprise the Night Elves and Callis wondered if this was some sort of trick that the human was pulling, however, the sudden cries of her fellow Night Elves was more than enough to tell her that this was no trick, that belief was further reinforced by the sudden arrival of one her fellow Sentinels suddenly came into the room and spoke out in a very hurried voice to them.

"There are a large number of Satyrs coming this way!"

Callis was shocked by this but her desire to do her duty came first and she was quick to take out her bow and quickly gave swift orders to her fellow Sentinels for them to make quick action and deal with the forces of Satyrs, as soon as the Night Elves left the area, Darken knew that he was needed and so was Kaisha, but as they were about to leave, the Grey Warden grabbed the Elder Druid's arm and stopped him clod in his tracks as he looked at Damien and the Grey Warden replied.

"Let me help you."

"But you have just…."

"Trust me….I will help you, just give me a minute to get into my armor and get my gear ready."

--------

Outside in Silverwind Ridge…

Callis and her fellow Sentinels were quick to find themselves under siege as a large number of Satyrs were attacking the village in a fury of hatred and blood lust, they fired several of their arrows in a sheet of shafts and those hit the Satyrs hard as many of the weaker ones had fallen down with the feathers of their arrows buried all the way through their chests, but even as the Sentinels felled the Satyrs, there seemed to be more and more of them coming, for every Satyr they fell, another three would replace their slain comrade.

As she fired another arrow, Callis was met by another of her sisters who was quick to notice this shocking trend in the numbers of the Satyrs.

"This is no simple roving band! There are too many of them!"

"I know….this is no raiding strike, but a full scale attack! We must hold the line and send word to Darnassus!"

As they held on, the Sentinels were quickly running out of arrows and they hoped that they would gain aid, several nearby bands of Sentinels finally arrived, but they were all composed of only half a dozen Sentinels and the Satyrs seemed to grow in number as more of the Satyrs appeared, soon it was evident to the Sentinels who were numbering a good two dozen that no single Clan of Satyrs would have this high a number, this meant that the other Satyr clans were involved, but how could they have been united like this? Even though they hated the Night Elves Satyrs only sent raiding strikes on their villages and spent half their time in attacking one another for lands and resources, they would only align with one another like this is something or someone powerful enough was leading them.

The Satyrs broke and ran, just as three of the Sentinels whooped and charged after them, Callis however, being much older and a veteran of many battles knew quickly what was about to happen and shouted out a warning.

"NO!!! It's a trap!!!"

Her warning came too little too late however as the three were suddenly attacked by a humanoid shape with a heavy muscular build and wearing light armor while carrying a demonically charged two handed sword which glowed green with fel energy that worked well the glowing green eyes that burned with fel energy and the deep red skin tone. The Sentinel recognized the beast….after all, it was one of the Orcs that had a hand in slaying Cenarius himself during the arrival of the Orcs into Ashenvale.

The Fel Orc quickly cut into the three Sentinels who were unable to react well in time to the attack, the first of them was cut down very quickly and fell dead with several wounds that were undeniably fatal as she fell dead, the other two managed to fire their arrows, but the Fel Orc sliced them down and quickly cut down the second, and she fell to the ground bleeding while the third was stabbed in the back and was bleeding on the ground.

Callis was enraged by this as well as her fellow Sentinel sisters as she shouted out to the Fel Orc.

"Foul beast!!! How dare you murder my sisters?!"

The Fel Orc laughed and shouted back in challenge while sadistically cutting the body of the wounded Sentinels with his sword while his Satyr followers came back as the wounded Night Elf screamed in pain, as soon as he was done he moved his blade to face the woman commander and replied.

"I do what I want elf!!!! I am but a herald of the Legion!!!"

Callis roared and fired several arrows in anger while shouting.

"We defeated your masters in the Legion once, and we can do so again!"

The Fel Orc laughed as he calmly cut down the arrows that came at him and he then stepped on the wounded form of the Night Elves he had wounded and relished her screams and the anguish and rage on the faces of her fellow Night Elves and he replied at the challenge directed to him by Callis.

"You only delayed our masters….Archimonde is gone, but your alliance with the humans and those lapdog traitorous kin of ours, as well as all the races of this wretched world is gone….soon, you and all those others will bow in fear at the might of the Legions, I an d my followers are but a simple force….showing to you that we will soon rise….and bring forth the end of all your kind!!!"

The Fel Orc raised his blade and roared out a charge order to the Satyrs, it was then that the Sentinels were once more locking in mortal combat with the Satyrs and it was there and then that the Druids arrived to support their comrades, the Druids had evacuated the survivors from the battle earlier which was why they had not been able to support the Sentinels during the attack, many Satyrs were killed as the Druids lent their powers into the battle, The Sentinels were fighting with all their strength as the druidic magic covered them to give them strength as the Druids unleashed their power on the invading forces while the Fel orc Blade Master watched in amused pleasure.

Callis was not in the best of moods as she knew that the first waves of attacks were meant to deplete them of their ammunition, and it was working, she and her sister were crack archers, having spent literally centuries perfecting the art of being archers to fight the Legion and all those who were threats to their people, but they could do little once they were out of arrows and they would have to fall to their swords and daggers, which they only had marginal training..

However, it was when a Satyr was closing in on her that another arrow flew at them and hit the Satyr dead center in the chest….and then burst into flame, the Satyr roared in absolute shock at this and then to the shock of the other Satyrs and the Night Elves themselves, the arrow suddenly split into several other arrows that scattered into the Satyr ranks, hitting them and bursting them into flame.

She and her fellow Sentinels turned to find the Grey warden there with his Bow in hand, in full armor and his swords behind his back for easy use. The Warden said nothing as he began to unleash more of his arrows; these glowed with power as he fired them at the Satyrs with considerable skill and the ones hit were reeling in pain showing that the bow's magical enchantments were more than enough to make it a potent weapon in the hands of it's apparent owner.

Damien was quick to fire the arrows he had while using some of his skills to scatter his arrows into the ranks of the Satyrs, his shots pinned some Satyrs to the ground while he hit them in key areas that left them unable to fight, he also fired powerful shots that were able to kill a number of the Satyrs, but he knew that no matter how many arrows he fired, there were still a number of the Satyrs and with that in mind, he quickly placed his bow aside and took both his Family Sword and Star Fang and quickly leaped into the battle.

--------

In the Emerald Dream…

Tyrande looked about and was quite awed by the sight of the Dream world that was the residence of the many spirits of nature as well as her own people. She had finally managed to gain some time to rest and recover after another draining episode dealing with the various matters that were needed by her people, and of course, dealing with Fandral Staghelm as well. At times she couldn't help but wonder on why was it that Malfurion even tolerated the maverick Druid, there was no doubt of Fandral's talents and skills. But his supremacist tendencies, arrogance, and actions have in no way made him a good replacement in her eyes.

She missed Malfurion deeply and wished that he would return and be by her side, but she could do little as she couldn't come into contact with him at all. However, she was now in the Emerald Dream, something that only those of the Druid Order was able to do. She looked about and she turned when she felt someone moving towards her.

"I see that you have retained your training Tyrande….I am happy to know that despite taking a role of leader, you have not lost your skills in the defense of our people."

Tyrande recognized the female being easily enough, after all, she was the being that considered her to be the best of all the Priestesses who served her.

"Elune….how….how did I get here?"

The Goddess smiled at Tyrande's words and replied.

"I summoned you here, with the aid of another, who I believe you will recognize easily."

And sure enough the next figure to appear was someone that Tyrande had no problem recognizing and she couldn't help but feel a great deal of amazement and happiness as the being smiled back at her.

"It is good to see you again Tyrande, though I must admit that I wished that it was under far better circumstances."

"Cenarius! You are here!"

"Aye, that I am indeed my dear, it will be time before I can come back to the world of the living ever since my death by the hands of the corrupted Orcs, however there is much to do here in the Emerald Dream, something is amiss here and it is causing a great deal of disturbances in the world here and in the living world. As of now, I and several others here in the Emerald Dream must find the source of these attacks and bring it down to free many others. This does not just affect the Night Elves, but other races as well."

Tyrande was quickly worried by this, this might help explain why Malfurion had not awakened in such a long time, she had always suspected something was wrong in the sense that Malfurion would never be like this, he would at least send a message to her in some fashion to tell her how he was doing with in the Emerald Dream. Now that Cenarius told her what was happening, she became very worried about the safety of her beloved. That was seen by both Elune and Cenarius as her and Malfurion's teacher spoke to her.

"Malfurion is safe for the moment, but he cannot awaken for his is still locked in mortal combat with the source of these nightmarish dangers here on the Emerald Dream."

Tyrande wished she could see him once more and it was then that she got her wish as Malfurion appeared with a warm smile on his face as he spoke to her.

"Tyrande, it is good to see you again after so long my love."

The High Priestess of Elune smiled warmly and reached out to hug Malfurion as this was possible only in the Emerald Dream, as they held one another she couldn't help but feel tears flow out of her face and she felt Malfurion also show his happiness to hold her again as she whispered into her love's ear.

"I missed you…."

"As I you my love, I am sorry that I cannot be there with you….but this danger in the Emerald Dream is something that I and both Elune and Cenarius must solve."

As they parted, Tyrande spoke to her loved one once more.

"Then let me help you! I need to help you, we've been apart for too long Malfurion…"

The Arch Druid smiled sadly as he replied.

"I would love nothing more than to have you by my side beloved, but our people need you there to lead them while I am gone, I will return and I will do my best to make up for the time we have lost. But as I have my duties here, so must you, our people need you Tyrande, and that need will be greater still. While I am here, I have felt something else reaching out through the land….something evil."

"Evil?"

"Yes….the Legion is coming back…"

"How can that be? Archimonde was defeated at Mount Hyjal…."

"Yes he was defeated my love and he is no longer a threat to life, but he was but a lieutenant, there is still Kil'Jaeden and Sargeras, they still exist and I have no doubt that we have not seen the last of them, and their agents still walk the lands, waiting for the right time to strike, The Legion have conquered other worlds, but they know the value of this world, and Sargeras will never forgive nor forget that this world is the only one which has stopped the might of the Legion. And I fear that ancient evils will rise once more to attack our lands. We must call on all our allies when the time comes, even the Horde must be called to fight these threats when they arise or Azeroth will truly be destroyed."

Tyrande sighed at that, things have been difficult to say the very least, the member races of the Alliance were caught in their own troubles from the outside and within to be of much aid and the Horde have their own threats to deal with both outside and within. They were also at each other's throats due to past hatreds and memories, if the Legion would come on them now….then they were lost, and she felt that soon, the darkness would come and they would be in true danger.

"That will not be easy my love, the Alliance and the Horde are fractured and divided, and many past hurts and scars are there between them, we may not be able to heal all of them in time."

Malfurion nodded at that.

"I know my love, I have managed to learn much through my time in the Emerald Dream, but I feel that we have a new ally, one who can help us turn the tide in this time. He is already aiding our people as we speak, he is a human noble who might hold the key to helping stand a much better chance against not just the Legion but all the other threats that seek to destroy all life here in Azeroth.

"A human noble my love? Who is he?"

Malfurion sighed a bit and replied.

"He is more than that my love….he is not from the lands of the humans, nor anywhere else for that matter here on Azeorth, he is from beyond this very planet, he very well be the key to ensure that we will survive, he will help all races unite to face the growing threat of the Legion and many others….he is…"

--------

At Silverwind Ridge at the very same time…

The Sentinels were stunned, at least the ones who were not with the band that were under Callis' command as the Grey warden was busy cutting down Satyr after Satyr, having thinned down their numbers in battle with his arrows first and was now engaging them in close combat and in a few moments, many of the Satyrs were all slain in battle and this time, by the end of it…many of the creatures that had attacked them were cut down by this lone human who moved with amazing speed and power.

Damien was happy that he was able to maintain himself and keep his energy focused on the task at hand before him as more of the Satyrs fell, using all the tricks and techniques that he had managed to perfect over the many struggles he had been under since taking the mantle of Grey Warden all those months before, his attacks moved quickly and fluidly, showing to him that the changes Andraste had given him were more than enough to give him a good fighting change against the Satyrs and he hoped that he would be more than ready for this kind of fighting when he would face much greater threats in the near future.

He had managed to slay another dozen of the Satyrs and was now facing three more of the creatures and would soon be facing the Fel Orc, he had sensed the creature earlier and was not liking what he sensed, the being was attracting his attention in the same way Emissaries and Alphas got his ability to sense Darkspawn through the sky. This told him that this being was the leader and would take top priority above the other Satyrs. Somehow he had developed the ability to sense creatures carrying the taint of the Legion, similar to how he could sense Darkspawn, though it seemed that they couldn't sense him….at least not yet and he planned to use that fact to his full advantage.

The Fel Orc Blade Master roared in anger as three more of it's Satyr followers lay dead before it, he had been summoned to deal a damaging blow to the Night Elves and destroying a simple village would be but the first sign to warn the races of the world of Azeroth that the Legion will return soon, but now, his forces were slain by the Night Elves and a human….or was he human at all? He had served in the wars long ago before he and his clan drank the blood that gave them the power they embraced, and no human he had fought so long ago in the wars fought like this before.

The Fel Orc readied his sword and shouted in anger at the human.

"You….I will have your head! But what are you….no pathetic human can fight the way you do."

Damien felt the need to tell this, monster who he was, his transformed power to sense these….creatures told him that this Orc or whatever he was, served as the leader of this band, kill him and they all would break and be easier to deal with.

"I am a human….and more than that foul beast."

The Fel Orc roared in anger and attacked as he spoke for the final time.

"Then what are you?!"

Damien allowed the Power to flow into him once more and in that moment, the powers given to him by the Maker and Andraste filled his mind and he was more than ready to reply as he charged at the Fel Orc Blade Master with both his Family Sword and Starfang at the ready as his powers glowed and surrounded him in a bluish haze of energy as well as his eyes glowing slightly like before.

"I am…"

--------

In the Emerald Dream…

Malfurion finished his own description of this human he spoke to Tyrande about just as Damien spoke at the very same time in the world of the living…

--------

"A Grey Warden."

--------

To be continued…

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Author's notes:

There, that should do it for now. I recently got my computer updated and while it's operating well enough, I have some concerns that it might slow down too much and take too long to move about since it's been getting some heavy updates recently. No worries though, I have to take care of this PC and ensure that it lasts for as long as possible and I hope that it will continue to serve me well for as long as I need it to be active, though I have a feeling that sooner or later, in the coming months, this thing will be taking another trip to my cousin's computer shop for repairs if it decides to conk out on me again.

At any rate, despite my time constraints, I am happy that this chapter for this particular story project of mine is finished so I can focus on other key matters that I know have to be addressed as soon as possible. This also includes my other stories, so I hope for the best, but prepare for the worst of it.


	3. Trip to Darnassus

World of Warcraft Dragon Age: The Lost Warden

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Bioware or Blizzard, period.

Chapter 2

Trip to Darnassus

( ): Thoughts

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In the village of Silverwind Ridge…

The sounds of clashing steel filled the area as the Fel Orc Blade Master and the Grey Warden were locked in combat with one another, both warriors were able to hold their own as Damien Cousland was able to move quickly to avoid several slashes from the Blade Master's demonically charged sword and block the ones that he couldn't evade, the Fel Orc roared at him in anger and continued to try and slash him to bits but the Grey Warden was not going to bow down as he countered the attacks.

This battle had allowed the Sentinels to make their way to their wounded comrades as the Fel Orc was busy fighting the Grey Warden, the Druids did their best to heal the wounded and also buy their forces time to rally and arm up, Callis and her Sentinels were able to get new arrows when some of the villagers provided them with a fresh supply of arrows, these were used for hunting and were not meant to be used for warfare as they were never built for such a situation but these were the only options she and her fellow Sentinels had.

As they fired their arrows, Callis quickly ordered them to focus on defending their still living sisters and the stranger and keep the Satyrs off his back while he dueled with their leader. The woman knew that the only way Satyrs would obey anyone was when that leader was tied to their corrupt Masters and this foul red skinned Orc was one of them. She had been there when her people demanded justice for the murder of Cenarius but she was also enraged by the fact that the Orcs never took responsibility for the demi-god's death and called the ones who murdered her Fel Orcs and Orcs themselves.

She however placed such thoughts aside as she needed to focus on fighting the creatures that were before her at this time, as she fired another arrow right into the eye of another Satyr trying to rush the Grey Warden from behind, she was quick to turn and fire another arrow into the throat of yet another Satyr and was about to fire another when the next one attacked, she quickly dodged the attack and rolled away, the Satyr roared, eager to cleave her head clean off but he was stopped as vines held him tight and he roared in fury as he and Callis turned to see Kaisha using her magic to hold him, just as Darken appeared in Bear form and quickly tore the head off the Satyr as he roared once more and charged in, with Callis firing another barrage of arrows.

CLANG!!!

The Grey Warden gritted his teeth as he crossed blades with the Orc and focused all of his power on fighting with the Orc and he was quickly able to dodge the next attack and lash out with a powerful pair of slashes, one hitting the arm of the Orc and the other slicing into his thigh, but he knew that these blows were not fatal and not crippling either to his foe as he quickly ducked in order to avoid a power swing that would have decapitated him if he had not ducked at that exact moment, he quickly lunged forward with both swords but the Fel Orc Blade Master moved back and the two attacked one another once more.

Damien dodged a powerful thrust and was able to block the swing that followed as the Fel Orc attacked with considerable speed and it was only his battle hardened senses and the fact that his armor was made in a fashion that didn't inhibit his movement He quickly launched a counter attack with both his swords and the Fel Orc retaliated with a counter attack of his own as the two faced each other.

The Fel Orc roared out anger and decided to end the life of the impudent human before him and then get back to the task of tearing the wretched Night Elves to bits, with that train of thought in it's murderous mind, the Orc wasted little to no time in attacking with several powerful strikes that were going to be effective in further weakening the human before him, he then roared out once more and spoke to the human.

"You're resistance will end here human, as well as your life!!!"

"Dream on monster!!!!"

The Grey Warden and the Blade Master carried on with their battle and the Orc managed to strike a blow that cut into the chest armor of the Grey warden, as sparks flashed out of the armor, but the plate held on and the Grey Warden continued to fight back against the Fel Orc Blade Master. Another series of slashes and thrusts were traded between the two fighters and it was then that Damien leaped up and quickly spun himself and attacked with a swirling circle of blades that forced the Blade Master back, however, this left Damien open to attack from the force of his landing, and that was easily noted by the Fel Orc.

"Now you die human!!!!"

The Fel Orc roared in out in triumph and lashed out to finish the human, but the Grey Warden was not out of the fight as he managed to side step the attack and quickly pushed Starfang into the left side of the Orc's chest, the Orc roared out in shock and pain, lashing out with his free arm to hit the Grey Warden, but Damien was able to evade the attack and quickly stabbed his Family Sword right where the heart was, the Fel Orc Blade Master roared in pain and shock, trying to swing his demonically charged sword right that the Grey Warden but this time Damien ended it as he closed the gap and took out a dagger and jammed it into the head of the Fel Orc….killing the creature once and for all as he then reached out and took both swords and yanked them out of the dead monster.

The Satyrs saw this and with their numbers too low for a continued assault finally broke and run, much to the relief of the Night Elves, the Sentinels were quick to take action as two more of the now diminished bands of Satyrs were felled by the Sentinels in battle. However the battle was won though the cost was high for the Sentinels as they needed to tend to their wounded as well as clean up the damage done to the village.

Darken returned to his normal form and walked over to Damien who was leaning down and taking deep breaths, exhausted from the very intense battle that he had been in, the elderly Druid had to give the young noble credit for his skills, hearing about his skills in battle was one thing, witnessing them first hand was another thing entirely, he could see that he was tired and he gently spoke to Damien.

"Are you all right?"

Damien coughed a bit and replied as he looked at the Druid.

"I'll live….what was that thing?"

"An Orc, tainted by the power of the Burning Legion….and judging from his weapon and his uniform, I would say he was a Blade Master."

"He certainly lives up to that title, he's as tough as an Alpha Darkspawn."

"I see, you did well young Damien, for now I think that it's best you rest and recover."

Damien nodded and managed to stand up and then it was where Callis walked over with Kaisha alongside her, the Sentinel Commander looked at the Grey Warden and spoke curtly but with some level of respect.

"You did very well, I thank you for your aid."

Damien smiled a bit and that was that.

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A day later…

The Night Elves were busy burning the bodies of the slain Satyrs while doing the very same thing to the slain Fel Orc as they took his head as proof of his death while burning his body as well as the Druids using their magic to destroy the demonically charged sword that he had with him in battle. Many of the houses were burned and a number of their kin were wounded in the attack, the two of the three Sentinels had managed to recover from their ordeal, though they needed to remain in Silverwind Ridge in order to recover, their other Sentinel comrade however was not lucky at all and she was buried with full honors and her actions, despite them leading to her death were understood.

Throughout all this, the Grey Warden did his best to not interfere, stating that he was still unsure of how to act around them and would prefer solitude for the time being, the only ones he spoke to were Darken, Kaisha, and Callis as they were the ones he was most familiar with, he had not told them of his discussions with Andraste as they might have some difficulty in believing him in the fact that he had just been visited by the wife of a God of his home realm. For now he decided to learn more about the world he was in and also help out as best he could.

He decided to look for something to earn his keep while in the village, this was surprising to the three as they knew that he was a noble by birth, yet he explained that his people the Fereldans were a practical people by heart and worked hard in making their fortunes, besides, he needed to show that he was not a free loader and explained that ever since the events that shaped him, he had been able to live on his own so he valued being independent and also to show that he was able to pull his own weight. This won him approval from all three of the Night Elves and that was something that he felt he needed in order to make his stay in this world a lot more tolerable and also to start building up his alliances.

He worked in hunting and gathering supplies such as firewood and hides which he traded to earn funds for him to use as he had a feeling that despite having a good supply of copper, gold, and silver sovereigns in his stash, the coins would not be recognized by the people here in this world, he also volunteered to go on patrols with the Sentinels under Callis' command and was allowed to do so by the Night Elf Commander. He earned enough funds while he was doing those trades and while he was there, the three began to think on what to do with him a bit more. There was no doubt that his actions in helping them fight the Satyrs and the Fel Orc Blade Master showed that he was an ally, yet Callis was still not entirely sure, and her actions and thoughts were not unfounded for the moment.

Darken and Kaisha were a bit more welcoming as the elder Druid had a feeling that sooner or later, the young man would be helping them in many other ventures in the soon to come time, for now however, he was still following the orders of Tyrande to have him under observation until the High Priestess said otherwise. Kaisha herself was quick to form a friendship with the Grey Warden, impressed by his skills in battle as she had never seen anyone fight the way he did before, and Damien was more than willing to show her his skills when he had the time as well as the patience as he was still busy trying to get used to the fact that he was in a different world and with such a serious mission..

The villagers and the other Sentinels were a bit friendlier to the Grey Warden after all he had done for them and that was more than enough for him to get a much better reception than before. He had been allowed to stay in the same house as before and to show the despite her still present thoughts concerning him Callis had lessened the number of guards on him and he was given a greater range of freedom than before and that told him that he was in better straits.

He also thought about the three Night Elves that he had already become a lot better acquainted with.

Callis reminded him a bit of Morrigan as well as a mixture of his own mother Eleanor, not in a bad way as he had no doubt about her lethality with a bow and arrow, she didn't completely trust him and he couldn't blame her either. Still it was hard not to ignore the woman as she commanded her fellow Sentinels and dealt with the usual matters one would associate with a person in command, she was also quite attractive despite her purple skin tone and the dark markings on her face, any man worth his salt would have been quite impressed with her beauty, considering what she wore normally as well.

Kaisha was a very young woman, at least in terms of dealing with him, she reminded him a bit of Leliana though she naturally didn't have Leliana's life and history, her skills in magic were exceptional and would have easily won her a place among the Circle of Mages and would have been Wynne's apprentice of sorts, that was why he had to give her credit for being able to hold her own during the whole attack. The concept of Druidic magic was very interesting to him as there seemed to be elements of a Shape Shifter, Spirit Healer

As for Darken, he was similar to Duncan and his own father Bryce to some level, the elder Druid was a good being and no doubt a skilled fighter in both his animal form and in his normal form as he seemed to be very strong despite his age. This was more than enough to make the young man happy that he had someone he could count on to help him, though he had plenty of experience in betrayal to not fully trust people just yet until he was sure that they were not stringing him along for a fall in some fashion or another.

As the time passed, Damien was able to get some very good work done and already had a small pack of coins that he had been able to earn, it was not very nice to him to know that he was still limited in his funds, but it was a start in the right direction. SO far he had managed to earn at least a hundred copper coins and at least twenty silvers, not much in the scheme of things, but far better than nothing. The good news was that since he had helped defend their village, the local Night Elves a lot more understanding of his situation and therefore didn't charge him too much in terms of fees in getting his gear back into full working order though he was going to need to visit a skilled black smith soon to work the damage out of his Warden Commander Armor soon enough.

The Warden stayed there in Silverwind Ridge for half a week doing the usual odd jobs as well as helping the villagers gather needed supplies and also help in patrols, he had encountered a number of Satyr patrols with the Night Elves and helped dispatch them when they attacked the patrolling groups, this further cemented the trust that was building between him and the Night Elves. It was something that he needed to work on for the day though he wished that he was able to find something that would help him remember the world he left behind, a tiny part of him wished that someone he knew had been brought here though that ideas was rather slim at best as according to Andraste all of his friends were there back in Thedas and were not with him.

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Several days later…

The Grey Warden had just woken up when he heard a considerable commotion in the village and for a brief moment he wondered if there was another attack happening in the village and he quickly got into his armor and carried both swords. He rushed down and spotted Callis along with the two Druids and he spoke to the Night Elf Commander.

"Are we under attack again?"

"I do not know….it certainly doesn't seem like one."

It was then that they spotted a pair of Sentinels armed with their bows and facing what appeared to some sort of animal, the thing growled at the Night Elves and seemed to be protecting something, and from the way some of the villagers were acting, it would no doubt have been some sort of animal, Darken rushed to nearby villager and spoke.

"What in the name of Cenarius is going on here?"

"This large dog came out of nowhere and started dragging away one of the sides of venison we were preparing for the day's breakfast in the inn, we tried to shoo it away but it growled at us in a very fierce manner and we were forced to call in the Sentinels."

Callis was surprised at this and spoke out.

"You called for aid from the Sentinels to deal with a dog?!"

"It's not like any dog I have seen before my Lady, it's huge!"

Damien listened and then was quite surprised when he heard the dog bark was amazed as he came closer to get a better look and when he spotted the massive dog he called out, hardly daring to hop that this was the animal he had personally raised since it was a pup.

"Cardos? Is that you?"

The dog stopped growling at the Night Elves and looked in the direction of the voice, the very second it spotted it's master, the Mabari War Hound barked loudly and quickly rushed to Damien, the hound becoming a four legged missile of fur, muscle, and drool as it quickly reached the Grey Warden and leaped into it's master's arms and instantly bowled it's master over, much to the shocked amusement of the Night Elves who were in the area.

Kaisha, Darken, and Callis were surprised by the sight though the two Druids were intrigued by the sight of this unusual hound, they had seen dogs before, but this dog resembled a wolf more and seemed to be releasing some tiny amount of magic in itself. Nevertheless, the two Druids were amazed at how healthy looking the animal was and also the fact that it was rippling with muscle all over, a fine specimen of an animal if they ever saw one.

Damien however was busy with another battle and that battle was of him trying to keep his pet War Hound from licking and slobbering all over him and making him stink of drool, though he was still very much pleased by the sight of at least one familiar being in this world.

"All right! All right! It is you Cardos, I get it!!! Stop slobbering all over me already!!!"

The War hound however seemed to be aware of it's actions moved aside to allow Damien to get up from the ground and as soon as it's master was sitting up, the War Hound barked happily as the Grey Warden smiled a bit and wiped his face somewhat and began to speak to the Hound while rubbing his hands on it's frame looking for any injuries on his prized war hound and childhood pet.

"It's good to see your familiar face ….I don't know what brought you here, but I am happy to see you're in good health."

"WOOF!!!!"

The Warden was happy indeed to see that the Hound was unharmed and seemed to be in the bloom of health, and he felt pleased that even though it was just Cardos, he would at least have someone or in this case, something to remind him of the world he had left behind. As he finally stood up the War Hound bound around showing it's joy of being reunited with it's master and that amused Damien as he recalled having some dried reindeer meat in a pack and took it out and Cardos ate the food willingly and barked happily at being fed by it's long time master.

It was then that Darken spoke to the two.

"I take it this hound belongs to you Damien?"

Damien smiled at that and nodded.

"This is Cardos, he's a Mabari War Hound I raised when I was still a young boy back in my home in Highever, I never thought that I would see him here of all places, but it does my heart good that he is here."

"I see….quite an interesting animal."

Cardos then noted the other Night Elves and growled a bit at them, Damien noted that and spoke calmly to his long time pet.

"Cardos, behave yourself, they are not the enemy."

The War Hound obeyed it's master's words and stopped growling but didn't look away from the Night Elves, Kaisha however approached the war Hound slowly as it looked at her, she did her best to appear non threatening to the War Hound as she could tell that while it was not very large, the teeth in it's mouth and the muscles it has told her that this hound was bred for combat and could easily knock a person down the same way it had knocked down it's master.

Cardos looked at the Night Elf in a very puzzled fashion, trying to determine what this creature was trying to do, it saw no hostile intent in the being's actions and as such didn't attack.

As soon as the young Druid was near the War Hound, she gently spoke to it.

"Hello there, my name is Kaisha…."

The War Hound moved forward and sniffed the hand of the Night Elf, trying to see what this being was, it liked the smell, the woman smelled of herbs and warm Earth, as well as something that seemed to be rather soothing in the senses of the War Hound and it then licked her hand and seemed to be more relaxed around her.

Damien noted that and spoke.

"I guess it seems that Cardos likes you, he's usually not ready to trust people mere moments after meeting them."

Kaisha smiled at the Hound and petted Cardos on the head, and the War Hound barked in approval. That was when both Callis and Darken came closer, and since the war Hound didn't growl at them as they approached, that meant that they were very much safe for the time being. As soon as they looked the animal over the Elder Druid looked at the creature and smiled as he patted Cardos on the head and the War Hound barked in a very relaxed and happy tone.

"You raised quite an animal, I can sense that he would willingly risk his life for you in a heart beat."

Damien nodded at that.

"Don't I know it….one time a pair of mercenary soldiers tried to kill me, Cardos saved my life, he attacked the archer and tore him down with a bite to the neck when the fool tried to shoot me from behind. There were plenty of other times too, too many for me to explain in all for the time being, but I trust Cardos well with my life and that of my fellow warriors."

Darken nodded at that and smiled at the hound, speaking to it gently.

"You serve you master well young creature, and I have no doubt he is grateful to you for all your service to him."

The War Hound barked once more and sat down next to it's master with little to no worries, and as soon as that was over, the group moved back with the Sentinels now placing their arrows aside, assured that the War Hound was not a threat to them and was actually an ally and pet of their guest. Damien then paid the Night Elf for the trouble and also for the venison which the Hound quickly gorged itself on, showing that despite it's healthy look, it had been rather hungry and in only a few minutes, the meat of the deer was all gone and the hound barked in happiness at finally being fully fed.

The War Hound then moved about, beginning to seek out new places for it to mark as it's new territory. This amused the Grey Warden as he recalled just how eager his War Hound was when it came to marking it's new territory back home. The Night Elves were somewhat amused though Callis was able to speak first as she looked at the War Hound as she was still a bit confused and wary at having the hound move about so freely.

"Shouldn't you try and keep that War Hound of yours out of trouble?"

"He'll be fine, Cardos is a fierce warrior but he only attacks beings who either insult him or are threats, or under my orders. Besides that, he's just trying to explore this place, he always does that and hardly tries to be a nuisance, I can call him back when needed."

Callis could see the smile in the young Grey Warden's eyes as he looked at his War Hound and decided that she should trust him this time around and decided to do so, it was then that she spotted a large number of figures heading towards the village, however the beings heading in this direction were not threats in any sense as she recognized them to Huntresses riding their Night Saber mounts.

The Huntresses were the elite riders in the Sentinel forces and were trained with their Night Saber mounts and were able to fight well in battle with their Moon Glaives and with the aid of their Owls, could track down even the stealthiest of quarry. They had been great warriors in the War with the Burning Legion and with the Orcs and Humans long before they worked side by side to face Archimonde, but now they were only deployed them such power was needed.

As soon as they stopped before the Night Elves and the Grey Warden Callis was able to see the badge they had on and gasped as she realized that they were from none other than the capital city of her people, Darnassus. Such a thing was unheard of as the Huntresses that watched over their home city were the elite of their groups, veterans of many battles and were the ones who had fought alongside the Humans, Orcs, and their allies against the forces of the Burning Legion on Mount Hyjal, for them to be out here so far from the city was no doubt something of great importance.

The lead Huntress stopped and greeted them all with a regal tone befitting her station and the armor that she wore.

"Elune Adore to you Commander Callis."

"Huntress Leafrunner….I was not expecting you to come here to Silverwind Ridge all of a sudden."

"I apologize for that, but High Priestess Tyrande has requested that we come here to find a human by the name of Damien Cousland. Is he the one?"

Callis and the others looked at Damien who was rather surprised by this sudden turn of events, he had hoped to get some more time on his hands in getting used to being in this new world and then all of a sudden he was being looked for by the leader of the Night Elves, this was something that he was not seriously expecting,. However, he did recall that since he was the one being looked for, he might as well show himself, with that plan in mind he faced the Sentinel and bowed.

"I am Damien Cousland, what is the reason your people's leader sought me out?"

Leafrunner looked him over and smiled a bit gently while making sure not to appear threatening to them human, she had been given strict orders by Tyrande to treat the human with courtesy and not to be harmed in any fashion, strong orders for someone the High Priestess has yet to meet in her point of view, however she had to admit that the human seemed to carry himself well as a warrior.

"I do not know, that is only for Lady Tyrande to reveal, however be assured Damien that you are no prisoner and are to be treated with the utmost courtesy as was ordered by Lady Tyrande herself, if you are willing to come with us to Darnassus then all the better for all involved, if you wish to take some more time we may wait for a time until you are ready to depart."

Damien thought that over and decided that since he had enough supplies and he had the time, why not? He might as well find out just what was the reason he was being asked to go to Darnassus of all places and if it would help him get settled in even more in Azeroth, then all the better, besides, he had heard plenty of good things about High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind from Darken and he wanted to meet this woman for himself to see if the praise was justified.

"Very well, give me a minute to collect Cardos."

"Who?"

The Grey Warden grinned at that and replied.

"You'll see."

He then turned and whistled in a loud fashion and sure enough the War Hound heard his call and come bounding out the area and was soon beside it's master, however, the Hound whined in surprise at the sight of the Night Saber Panthers that were being ridden by Leafrunner and her fellow Huntresses, Damien noted that and quickly spoke in an assuring fashion to the War Hound.

"It's all right Cardos, they are not our enemies, we need to leave for a while."

The War Hound looked at it's master and whined a bit while looking at the village and Damien smirked a bit at that.

"I know, you wanted to mark your territory, but that will have to wait for the time being, come on, maybe they have some fine food there in Darnassus."

At the mention of food, the Mabari War Hound was quick to recover it's full spirits and was showing a great deal of energy and eagerness for the start of the journey, with that done, the Grey Warden nodded towards Leafrunner and spoke once more to her.

"I am ready, when to do we leave?"

The Huntress leader smiled a bit more and replied.

"We will leave now, but you can bid farewell to anyone here in the village if you like before we leave."

Damien nodded and soon bid farewell to the villagers who had gathered around the area and they bid him farewell and several of the villagers provided him with some bags of foodstuffs, much to his surprise and gratitude and just as he was about to bid farewell to the three Night Elves, Darken spoke to him.

"You do not need to say anything young Damien for we will accompany you."

"You will? Aren't you needed here in the village?"

"Normally yes, but I need to report to High Priestess about your actions in helping us counter the attacks of the Satyrs and their Fel Orc master. She will need to know about what that monster said to us so we can make some plans about how to counter this rising danger."

Leafrunner was quick to pick up on that and spoke in all seriousness.

"There was an attack here?!"

Callis nodded and recounted the situation to Leafrunner, the elite Huntress had to admit that she was quite shocked by the news that the Burning Legion was possibly returning, she had been there in the battle of Mount Hyjal and recalled the violent battles that had taken place there when her people and that of the Human, Orcs and their allies fought with all of their power to fight the Legion to allow Malfurion to strike down Archimonde. To think that that Legion was soon coming back was one thing that seriously troubled the Huntress. As soon as Callis filled her in with the information she nodded in agreement with the need to increase their readiness for war.

"Lady Tyrande needs to hear this news indeed, we need to make haste then, we need to head to the village of Auberdine to take the ship there in the same way we came here ourselves. It would be best that we hurry though, there have been reports of roving bands of not just Satyrs, but Naga as well."

Damien raised an eye brow at the word he just heard as this was the first time he had heard of Naga, but decided to take Leafrunner's word for it. Callis herself nodded in agreement as she was well aware of the Naga herself and had no wish to encounter them for the time being as she also gathered a good supply of arrows while Darken and Kaisha gathered their own needed supplies for the trip as the elder Druid decided that instead of taking a flight form, he would remain as he was in order to properly introduce the Grey Warden to rest of Kalimdor and also what are the places that one would consider safe and not safe, and also show him the other dangers that prowl the lands.

It seemed that it was going to be a very long trip.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

There, that should do it for now in this story as I move to update the rest of my works in my account, I plan to have a new project underway soon but for now it's back to fixing the other stories in my account, two of them are already getting worked on and I might get back to my lemon writing once more.

For now we have Cardos being reunited with his master and they are soon off to Darnassus with a number of escorts along for the ride. What will happen once Damien lands in Darnassus will still be kept something of a secret but you can bet that as soon as he is able to tell Tyrande everything, he will soon be busy doing many things for the Night Elves in helping their homeland before moving on to see the rest of the world of Azeroth to get a feel of the lands and the various races that call the place home.

Someone suggested I send some Darkspawn into the world of Azeroth to spice things up a little and I have to say that it is a very tempting idea to say the very least. I have to admit that a Blight in Azeroth is remarkably tempting to see but I will have to find some way as to how the Darkspawn get sent to Azeroth first and how they will become deadly threats of their own in battle with the other races of Azeroth.

I am willing to take suggestions from all readers on how to best introduce the Darkspawn into Azeroth but it has to make sense, is workable, and isn't too immediate. They have to be a new threat and don't suddenly appear out of the woodwork like a snap of the fingers, which would be too hard to explain. If you have ideas then feel free to send them my way and I'll see which is the best option for me to work with and then use it in the coming chapters.

At any rate, as for pairings, we'll be working on that as Damien will be getting a party soon enough, Kaisha and Callis might be [art of it, but there will be others as well form the other races that Damien might in encounter, both male and female, some will join him willingly, while others might have been forced to join him, or do so for their own reasons, just like in the Dragon Age Origins game itself.

All in all, if we do have the Darkspawn or not, we might very well see Azeroth having a new order dedicated to fighting evil soon enough.

Bye!


	4. Settling In

World of Warcraft Dragon Age: The Lost Warden

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Bioware or Blizzard though I have played the games.

Chapter 3

Settling in

( ): Thoughts

…

As the group arrived at the village of Auberdine, Damien looked at the village and noted that it was the kind one would think of a lake or seaside village. In a way it was similar to Redcliffe Village itself, and even to the coastal docks of Denerim itself. The village was naturally filled with other Night Elves though a scattering of Dwarves and humans were there, though he was surprised to see that there were actually beings that looked like dwarves there.

But these were skinny and seemed to have less muscle than the Dwarves of Orzammar, he kept in mind that this was not his world and as such, he would have to throw away old thoughts and conceptions. Not something he would like to do, but it was the only option that he had to make due to be in this unknown world. He kept in mind to find books to read on this land and the various races that called it home.

The Huntresses guide their Nightsaber mounts to the docks and their leader, Huntress Leafrunner moved to talk to the dock manager while Damien looked about to study the village. He turned and several young Night Elf children came running towards them, they seemed to be utterly caught in their own game that they were unaware that they were on a collision course with Cardos. The Mabari was a bit surprised when the lead child hit him at the side and growled reflexively at the child and was there before the child, teeth bared and growling.

The young male child froze at the sight of the war hound and his friends were shocked as well, Damien saw that and quickly spoke a command to his long time pet and trusted companion since childhood.

"Cardos, stay!"

The War hound quickly stopped as Damien quickly moved to the terrified child and spoke to him.

"Are you all right young one? I'm sorry if my war hound surprised and frightened you, he was reacting in the way any war hound would."

The young child then looked at Damien and nodded as the human quickly moved to his dog's side and spoke to it in a calm but authoritative voice.

"Don't do that again Cardos, you could have scared that young Elf witless."

Cardos whined a bit at the way Damien disciplined him but he knew that his master had a point and gently moved away from the young child. It was here also that the boat was now ready for the move and the Night Elves as well as the Grey Warden and his long time companion came on the ship and Damien knew that he had to be careful with his War Hound. Cardos was not exactly a fan of getting sea-sick, as he had found out in a previous trip in his younger days when he brought the War hound on a trading trip.

Cardos vomited for a good portion of the trip and it took him twice as much effort to get the War hound back into the boat for the return trip as well. This was not something that Damien looked forward to as he knew that he had to be careful with it and how his new hosts were going to take it. And the very second the War Hound saw the ship, it yelped and gave it's master a whining look, one he recognized easily as the kind given to him when he got on the ship for the very first time in his life.

He looked at his long time pet and replied.

"I know you don't like the idea on getting on that ship Cardos, but unless we both grew wings and flew, that's our only way across."

Cardos whined sadly and looked at the ship with unbridled disgust and the Grey Warden could not help but pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He might be Cardos' master, but he was also very keen on keeping his long time pet and friend in a good state of mind. That was dealt with however when Kaisha came close to him and spoke.

"Something wrong?"

Damien turned to the Night Elf and replied.

"Cardos gets seasick rather quickly, some War Hounds aren't very comfortable in travels over oceans and lakes and Cardos is one of them. When I was younger, I took him on a trading voyage and he ended up vomiting his breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the trip going to our destination, and it took me twice as much effort to get him on the same boat to go back home, and he vomited twice as much as well on all three matters of sustenance. Apparently the memories of that…eh…colorful incident are coming back to him right now."

The War Hound whined, understanding just what his master was talking about and bound away a bit and curled into a ball, refusing to budge and look at the vessel before it…much to the sympathy of some of the Night Elves who could clearly see the distress on the massive canine. Even the child frightened by the War Hound felt some level of sympathy for the creature as well.

The younger Druid then smiled at the War Hound and reached for some herbs of some sort that the Warden did not recognize and gave it to the War Hound and spoke to him gently.

"Here, chew on these, they will help your stomach settle in so you won't get sick easily."

The War Hound looked at her quizzically and seemed rather reluctant as he looked at his Master to ask him it if it was all right for him to start eating such things. Damien also knew why, one time, his War Hound had been curious to find out if there was anything edible in Morrigan's bags and nearly ate some poison herbs when he did so, the Witch was not pleased and warned Cardos never to do that again.

However, Damien decided to place his faith into the Night Elves and nodded to his War Hound

He then replied.

"Go ahead."

The War Hound got itself from it's balled position and walked over and smelled the herbs in the woman's hands and ate them, making sure not to harm the nice smelling woman's hands. Once it ate the herbs, Cardos felt a bit better and barked happily.

Damien smiled and tapped his War Hound's head.

"So, feeling better you old rascal?"

"WOOF!"

Damien looked at Kaisha and spoke in a tone of relief and respect.

"My thanks, carrying him was a chore when I was younger, I don't relish the idea of carrying him when he's already full grown. So shall we get going?"

…

On the ship…

The herbs did their work as Cardos was able to move around on the ship with the same energy he would have on land. And that was something that Damien Cousland was thankful for as he focused on looking at the lands behind them. It was a miracle that he was now moving about again and this land was certainly attractive looking as well. He was still accompanied by the Night Elves under armed escort, but so far, it seemed that he had little to fear for the moment for any possible attack.

Still, he had been able to hear stories about these Naga and as such, he was worried if they were suddenly going to try and attack the ship that he happened to be on. It would sound like paranoia, but to the Grey Warden, it was a perfectly legitimate reason due to the fact that there was a current state of war between them and the Night Elves. However it seemed that the Naga had other concerns.

As he looked about, he soon spotted something in the horizon and then saw a MASSIVE pillar reaching into the sky, and as the ship came closer to the massive pillar, he noted that it looked like a tree of some sort, but unlike anything he had already seen before in his long career as a Grey warden, in fact, he had never seen anything like it at all.

Damien gave one look at the massive tree of Teldrassil and gave a very good way to describe the sight in the way anyone in his world would.

"By the Maker!"

The Grey Warden couldn't help but be utterly amazed by the sight before him and couldn't help but wonder just how such a tree could grow to this height and size. There had been some very large trees in his world, but none of them seemed to be in the same size and height of this one.

The Night Elves couldn't help but find some level of amusement at the reaction of the human who looked at the tree that served as the place for their people's home. Callis couldn't help but wonder what to make of the human and what was going to happen. Still she was amused by the way he looked at the tree in utter awe and confusion. It was a reaction one expected from those who had not been to Darnassus and it was something they found to be a good form of entertainment.

But she decided that it could wait for another time as the ship was soon going to land in port so there was little reason for her to gawk at the place her people called him. She however decided to check on her people's guest for now and find out just what he thought of the place before him.

"How do you find Teldrassil?"

Damien looked at the massive tree once more and turned her afterwards.

"I can't really find any words to describe it, but I do have to ask. Just what did you feed that tree to grow to THAT height? I've seen a good number of tree giants back home in Fereldan, but this one takes the proverbial cake! It's more of a mountain than a tree."

Callis smirked a bit and replied in her very own fashion.

"That I am afraid is a matter best left unanswered, suffice to say, it is home and we prefer it remained this way for now. But we should hurry, High Priestess Tyrande is no doubt expecting you and it would be best not to keep her waiting as she has many matters to deal with."

Damien nodded and not a moment too soon as the ship they were in finally reached the docks. As soon as it got there, Cardos bound ahead and was soon barking out and calling for his master, to which Damien replied in an amused tone.

"Hold up you over energetic galoot."

Damien followed his Mabari and when he was there, he gave the dog a good pat on the head which made the dog roll around in a very relaxed and amused fashion as well. Once that was done, Callis and the others guided the Grey Warden and his Mabari to the portal which would lead to the city itself. All the while, Damien looked at the village and noted the architecture, design and way the buildings were made along with the way the people seemed to move.

Once they reached the portal, he and the other Night Elves entered it and in moments, he and his War Hound were in the city of the Night Elves known as Darnassus. He had to keep his jaw from dropping at the way the city looked, it was unlike any city he had ever seen before in his life. He had seen a few cities before, and also went to Denerim and more than one instance in his life, but this city was utterly different.

There seemed to be a surprising way that the buildings were made, it looked more organic, and seemed to have some sort of nature theme to it. He was no architect and he certainly had no idea how to build buildings of a higher scale, but he could see that the Night Elves were able to fluidly balance looks with a style that seemed to be beautiful and functional at the very same time. He had no doubt in his mind that he was going to have a lot to learn in the coming days while he was going to be here in this land.

Apart from the beautiful and slightly odd looking buildings, he saw a large number of people there and all of them happened to be Night Elves along with a scattering of Humans, and Dwarves as well. However, he was sure that now was not the time for that sort of thing as he was going to have to meet Tyrande as it seemed that she had done a lot to bring him here safely, the least he could do as a show of thanks and courtesy was to meet and speak to her.

He turned to Callis and spoke.

"So where exactly can I meet High Priestess Tyrande?"

Callis pointed to a structure that Damien had no trouble seeing as a Temple, though he had no doubt that it looked a great deal grander than any Chantry house that he had been in before.

"High Priestess Tyrande would be there in the Temple right now, meeting her would be the wisest of moves as she was quite willing to ask you to come here."

"I see, well then, I guess I should be going to see your leader and thank her for what she did."

As the group came, there, a band of Night Elves armed and wearing armor who were no doubt the guards of the Temple, Callis moved forward and they greeted their fellow Night Elf with smiles, they then looked at him and spoke to Callis in their native tongue. This was confusing to the Grey Warden as he had no idea just what they were talking about. They would point to him and the other women looked at him with raised eyebrows, he wagered a guess that Callis was telling her sister Night Elves just how they were able to find him. He did not interfere and kept Cardos at his best behavior and waited to see just how things were going to turn out soon. It was not long for him to get his answer as the Night Elf guards came to him and the one wearing the more unique armor as well as something that possibly denoted her rank spoke seriously.

"Welcome Damien Cousland, you were expected by High Priestess Tyrande, but as a show of good faith, as well as a custom here in Darnassus, you will have to surrender your weapons to my guards for the time being."

Damien thought it over and decided to ask a question.

"If I do so, will I have my weapons back once I am done meeting your High Priestess?"

The Captain nodded to that and spoke.

"Yes, this is merely a precaution to ensure the safety of the Sisterhood of Elune as well as our leader. You are not part of the Alliance and certainly not of the Horde so we have to be cautious and it is our duty after all."

…

Damien nodded in agreement and removed his Family Sword and Star Fang from his back as well as the Bow of the Golden Sun, he also took out a few of the other weapons that he had on his person. The Warden took out the Gift of the Grey as well as the Beastman's Dagger.

He then took out his pack and took out the other weapons that he and his friends had collected over the many days they had been moving about over Fereldan to counter the Blight as well as the fight to unite the races behind the Grey Wardens and the fight to remove Loghain from power. The weapons were the Daggers the Rose's Thorn, Duncan's Dagger, and the Edge, there were also the Longswords he had found, the Keening Blade, Asturian's Might, Oathkeeper, the Green Blade, Topsider's Honor, and Duncan's Sword as well. He also had several War axes such as the Axe of the Grey, Bloodline, the Veshialle, and Aodh, as well as only a pair of maces which were the Liberator, and the Chevalier's Mace.

Once those were placed aside, he reached into take the two other bows he had with him which were the Wolf-Killer which was a gift from the Dalish weapon smith Varathron, and Falon'Din's Reach, he also placed down the two Short bows he carried as he had sold the others which were the Dark Moon and the Wilds Bow, afterwards, he took out the collections of basic and enchanted arrows that he had on hand, as well as the bolts and the two Crossbows he had with him which were the Antique Warden Crossbow, and the Precision-Geared Recurve, something that he bought from a Dwarf merchant in Orzammar.

And though he rarely used them since he favored fighting with two blades in hand, he removed the three Great swords he had in his pack, which were the Qunari Sword which his Qunari friend and fellow warrior Sten recommended to him when the Qunari saw the weapon , the Ageless which he and his friends had fought with then they discovered the secret in the throne room in Orzammar, and the Meteor Sword, he also took out the two Mauls which were Trian's Maul which was a gift from Orzammar's new king, and the Chasind Great Maul. And the last pair of weapons were two Battle-axes which were the Maetshear War Axe, a gift from his slaying of the High Dragon before the Temple of Andraste's Sacred Ashes, and Faith's Edge which was the weapon he got from the Dragon Cult Leader Kolgrim after he beheaded the insane man in single combat.

Damien looked the pack over carefully and when he was sure he placed nothing, he began to put the weapons on the table while locking up his pack and leaving it on the side as it only now had several sets of Armor, medical supplies and other things though he planned to clean the pack once he was done.

(I always wondered how they stored gear in RPGs so I decided that Damien and his group uses a special magical pack, ala the Bag of Holding in Forgotten Realms lore, which would explain why they carry a lot of items, now in this case, Damien's gotten a number of things on him so that would at least be helpful in explaining just what he has in his pack. And don't worry, as a Warrior, he has only weapons, armor and supplies, nothing magical. Also he has a number of other things to use apart from what he carries with him as well. I only picked the weapons that I liked and are the ones I had in my pack in the game at the time.)

As soon as he was done placing all the weapon items on the table from his specially made pack, the Night Elf Sentinels looked at him carefully and their Captain spoke once more with a serious tone in her voice.

"Are there any OTHER weapons we should know about?"

Damien smirked a bit as he looked at Cardos who looked at both him and the Night Elf Captain with curiosity, and then he looked back to her and replied.

"Unless you plan to check my War Hound for anything else, there are no other weapons on my person, or his for that matter, counting his fangs and claws. Unless you want to try muzzling him to make sure that he does nothing foolish."

Cardos gave a curious look at his master and the Night Elf looked at the massive dog and shook her head.

"There's no need to go that far from the looks of things, he seems to be well intentioned so he can join you."

"Thank you, but I have to ask something of importance. Is there is any rule in your lands that forbid the entry of animals into your place of worship? I'm not really familiar with your people's customs so I want to know in advance if there is something that I should not do that could be considered as rude or offensive to your people."

Callis and the other Night Elves found that to be rather amusing but also very practical as well as thoughtful. The Sentinel in charge of securing the Temple smiled and replied in a calmer tone of voice to the Grey Warden.

"You have nothing to worry about, as long as you're pet Hound behaves and does not do anything that could be destructive to the Temple of Elune, then he is free to come and go as he pleases."

Damien nodded in relief and he kneeled down to look at Cardos and spoke to him.

"You heard the lady Cardos, keep at your best behavior and don't try to bite them for no reason all right?"

Cardos barked in response and licked his master in the face, making Damien sigh as he wiped the dog slobber off and grinned at his Mabari War Hound as he gave Cardos a pat on the head and they moved on, much to the amusement of the Night Elves.

…

As soon as he entered the Temple, he took a good look at the way it appeared and he could easily see the way the Night Elves would worship the powers of nature as well as having the same liking for simplicity and grace. The statue was no doubt their representation of their Goddess, who could be this Elune that they mentioned more than once. He looked about and saw several more guards and some male Elves that were wearing what appeared to be the kind of clothes worn by Druids. Darken and Callis were soon next to him and were now guided the Warden to where Tyrande was. Once they got there, it became obvious that Tyrande was not alone.

Damien saw a large male Night Elf wearing the clothes of Druids arguing with another Night Elf female who wore a simple yet elegant dress of white which seemed to have some elaborate designs which had diamonds there as well as some metal that looked similar to either well made silver or well polished steel or iron, though he had his doubts that a woman would wear iron or steel on a dress.

The woman was beautiful as far as he could see, there was no doubt of that, but Damien could tell from the way she stood, moved, and looked at the one she was arguing with that she was a warrior as well. There was also the fact that despite his lack of first hand experience in meeting the woman, she radiated power like a mage of some sort. Having been around Morrigan and Wynne had given him something of a sixth sense in knowing Mages from normal people.

He had no idea who she was, but she could very well be the High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind that he had heard a good deal about when he had arrived and was no doubt the leader of the Night Elves. After all, he had recalled that his Huntress escorts were sent by Tyrande. He had no idea who the other Elf was but he could see that there was a good deal of tension there between Tyrande and this one male. After losing his family in Highever due t the betrayal of Rendon Howe, he had to learn quickly how to tell the difference between valuable allies and enemies, along with his time dealing with Dwarven politics in Orzammar which sharpened those skills, and already he could see that there was a good deal of tension there at this moment.

He turned to Darken and spoke to the older Druid.

"I can wager a guess that the woman is High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind, but who's the one she's arguing with?"

Darken replied.

"He is Fandral Staghelm, the current Arch Druid and head of…my order. He and Lady Tyrande have…differences between them. Apparently we picked a time that is not advisable."

"I can see that…this reminds me of the times I had to keep Alistair and Morrigan from coming close to blows sometimes."

"I see…be warned, Fandral has…issues towards other races who he considers to be the lesser of our people, even those of the Alliance we are part of, he will not take your appearance well so be warned."

Sure enough, the arguments ended and the two looked at the Grey Warden and already Damien could see the look of contempt being directed at him by the Arch Druid. He recalled how the former Keeper of the Dalish Zathrian had looked at him before when he came into the forest to enlist their aid with the Blight though it faded quickly when he revealed his status as a Warden. However, he was not very keen on the way the male Night Elf looked at him, and it seemed that Cardos shared that same sentiment as he felt his Mabari War Hound tense and heard a slight growl come from the Hound.

Fandral turned to Tyrande and spoke to her.

"Who is this Human to come here Tyrande?"

Tyrande replied.

"He is the human who came to our people's aid a while before when the Burning Legion came to attack the village of Silverwind Ridge, he was also the one who slew the Fel Orc that led the assault in single combat."

"Did he now?"

The Arch Druid walked over to the Warden, trying to size up the Human and snorted, he hardly looked like much at first despite the armor he had on his person, but when he got closer, he saw something in his eyes that made him wonder just what was this human. As he got closer, he used his height once more to try and intimidate the man as well as making his tone of voice a lot darker than before.

"What is your reason for helping us Human when we did not ask for it?"

Damien snorted as he did not like the Arch Druid's attitude and made that clear well enough as he spoke.

"I helped your people because I wanted to, and I did not come here to speak to you, I came to speak to the High Priestess and you are in the way."

Naturally did not sit well with Fandral as he growled and leaned closer to the Warden who looked back evenly.

"Do you know who I am human?"

"Darken mentioned to me who you happen to be, but I am not here to waste time with you, I have to speak to the High Priestess and you certainly are not her. Now will you kindly step out of the way?"

"You have some gall human to speak to me in that manner."

"I'm asking you politely to move out of the way Arch Druid, if you don't then I am going to have to make you."

Fandral snorted and tightened his fist, but that was put to a halt as he heard the Mabari growl fiercely at him. He turned to see the Hound glaring darkly at him with teeth bared and it's fully muscled form ready to spring. Cardos did not like the smell of this Night Elf, it seemed to offend him in contrast to the female Druid and the older male one, that and the fact that he was threatening his master was enough to convince Cardos that this one was not to be trusted and he made his intent clear in his growl and baring of his fangs.

Damien noted that and replied.

"It seems my Mabari does not like you, try anything threatening on me and he will bite your arm of."

Tyrande looked at the confrontation and could not help but be slightly amused as she was well aware of Fandral 's tactics as well as beliefs when it concerned the other races, namely those of the Alliance itself even when they were supposed to be their allies. She had once considered the Alliance as enemies as well as the Horde for their actions on their lands as well as the death of Cenarius, but while her dislike for the Orcs remained to some degree, she had learned to respect the Alliance better though the High Elves and the Dwarves were not too trust worthy in her eyes due to their respective actions.

But she placed that aside and spoke.

"That is enough, this is the Temple of Elune and I will not have this place be turned into a fighting pit Fandral, he is our guest and not an enemy, and he did come here to speak to me as I had sent for him."

Fandral spoke in Darnassian to Tyrande a bit more and she responded back, whatever it was that the two were discussing was not good as the woman glared at him and spoke in a harsher tone, unlike before when she spoke in the human language. As soon as the conversation ended, he left but not before speaking to the man.

"This is not over Human, you may indeed be a Guest here in Darnassus, but do not a fully warm welcome to your stay here."

…

As soon as that was over, Tyrande spoke in a much gentler tone of voice to the Grey Warden.

"Greetings to you Damien Cousland of the Grey Wardens, I believe you know who I am already, but if it will make you feel more at ease, I am High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind of the Sisterhood of Elune and current leader of the Night Elves here in Kalimdor."

Damien nodded, already feeling more at ease with Tyrande as he gave the customary greeting of Thedas to those who occupied high positions of power

Tyrande noted that and looked at Cardos who seemed to be at ease with her gaze at him. The Night Elf leader could sense the magic in the Hound yet could sense no evil intent in the creature. She had seen many creatures in her days but never a Mabari War Hound. Once she was done, she asked the Grey Warden to sit down and she spoke to him.

"I must apologize for Arch Druid's Fandral's behavior in light of your arrival here to our city and to our Temple itself, but I suspect that he will never change his ways and trying to make him see things in a different manner would be very difficult to say the very least. I hope that this has not made you think twice of coming here?"

"None whatsoever, compared to him, you are quite amicable High Priestess, I have to thank you for allowing me to come to your people's capital city, though I am confused as to how you know me since this is the first time you and I have ever met."

"That is a long story."

The conversation stopped when Cardos walked over to Tyrande and smelled her, Damien sighed and was about to order his War Hound to come back, but he stopped when he noticed Tyrande smiling and touching the hound on the head. Cardos barked gently and allowed the High Priestess to pet him, showing that he found Tyrande to be a trust worthy sort. Tyrande gently placed her hand away and Cardos moved over to lie down while looking at both his Master and Tyrande as she spoke to him.

"You're War Hound is a strong creature, he has been with you for some time has he not?"

"Aye, he and I have worked together for a long time, I personally selected him and raised him myself, I am actually quite confused by all this."

"Oh?"

"I was not joking to Fandral when I said that Cardos would take his hand off, but it seems that he is taking a liking to your people well, he normally does not befriend strangers unless he knew them for a while."

"I see…now you wished to know how I know of you yes?"

Damien nodded and Tyrande told him of her time in the Emerald Dream, he had no idea what that place was but guessed it would be similar to the Fade as the Fade was the dream world in his realm. The way Tyrande spoke of Malfurion was enough to tell the Grey Warden that the two were lovers and cared deeply for one another, even though Tyrande kept such details from him. As soon as she was done, he was sure that he was shaking his head at the thought that there were divine beings from this world who knew of his arrival to this land. That could be seen by Tyrande as she spoke, not minding the looks of astonishment on the other Night Elves at her revelations.

"I hope you are not too troubled by this Damien Cousland."

"Not really…it's a bit hard to grasp, but I can deal with it, besides, I have quite a story to tell you as well."

He then told her of his life and how he came there as well as his encounter with Andraste while recovering before the attack on Silverwind Ridge and what she had told him of his purpose in this new world that he had landed in. Tyrande listened carefully and while she could see now what could her lover mean by his arrival in their world, she still had a lot of things to consider, both Darken, Callis and Kaisha were surprised by this nut remained silent to allow the Grey Warden to finish his words.

Once he did so, the two began to speak again, Damien asking questions and Tyrande asking her own share of questions. But it was not long before time was coming to a close and Tyrande decided to work on providing the Grey Warden and his War Hound. He asked Kaisha to oversee it and the young Druidess complied with the request and after a while she came back and told Tyrande that the Inn-keeper was willing to give him a room with what else he neede She then told the Druidess to assure the man that Damien's time within the Inn would be paid for by the Sisterhood for now.

She then turned to speak to the Grey Warden as well.

"I hope that these arrangements will be enough for you Damien as well as for your War Hound. There is a lot for both you and I consider but that can wait for a much better time, you are a guest here in the lands of my people and while you are here, you are under our protection, but before you retire, is there anything you wish to ask of me as a favor?"

Damien smiled and replied.

"May I ask to look at your libraries with your leave High Priestess? I am new to this world and knowing what I can will be helpful, not to mention I would like to learn more about my hosts."

Tyrande thought it over and nodded.

"You're request is a sound one Damien Cousland. Very well, you have my permission, but will you wait for a few days? There is much that I must do before I can grant you a chance to enter the libraries and I will not be able to help you in reading the books there."

"I can wait, this is your home city after all and I am merely a guest, though I will make sure not to be a burden to you and your people."

With that, Damien gave his parting bow to her and was accompanied by his faithful War Hound as well as escorted by Callis to the place he would be staying in for the time being while in Darnassus. As he left, Tyrande pondered what she had learned of him as well as what she had learned from her beloved and decided that there would be plenty of time for her to make a more serious decision once he was settled in and she was able to observe him.

She decided to make sure to send one of her people who worked in the archives to train him in understanding the language and alphabet of her people to make his search a lot better for him to deal with when he came to read what he possibly could from the archives This was a ood way to make things a lot easier for the young man in her mind.

…

Three days later…

Tyrande looked at Damien as the young man was now reading a number of the books in the Temple library. She could see that the man was truly focused on learning all that he could about their people and also about this new world's history. He was bare of his armor and wore only simple but functional clothes that included a long sleeved shirt, pants, and boots. He hardly bothered with his appearance as he was more concerned with learning as much as he could about the world after eating a good meal as well as feeding his War Hound. He then came to the Temple, greeting her and then asking permission to enter the library which she was more than willing to give him.

The massive War Hound was attentively walking with it's apparent master and didn't seem to misbehave. It was not the kind of hound one would expect, even more so when it had growled darkly at Fandral the day before, much to her private amusement. Even though he was taller than both hound and master, the Arch Druid failed to intimidate both master and pet in the discussion previously and left in a huff though she knew that being who he was, Fandral was not going to forget what had transpired between him and the Grey Warden as well as the Grey Warden's pet War Hound.

Cardos seemed to enjoy taking in the smells of the temple and it seemed to calm the massive War Hound while it trotted faithfully next to it's master. The leader of the Night Elves then walked over to Damien and Cardos and spoke in a gentle tone to the Human Noble.

"How do you find the books here in the library Damien?"

The man looked and sheepishly replied.

"I have to admit that it's a bit hard to understand it sometimes, but after taking those lessons from your archivist here three days ago, I am getting the hang of it. These are really fascinating to me Lady Tyrande, your people have such a history that really would have made any scholar back home in Thedas amazed."

The Night Elf laughed gently and replied.

"I see, for a human, your enthusiasm in understanding new cultures is interesting and amusing as well. Nevertheless, your desire to learn is admirable, most men your age from what I understand of it don't take well to learning history unless in unique circumstances."

"I can bet, well then, I should take a break, I need to get some food and drink for the time being."

"Of course."

Damien gave her a bow and quickly whistled to his war hound who had decided to take a short nap. The war hound was quick to wake up and soon followed his master and off they went to get some food and drink.

Tyrande watched the man leave and she wondered if this man could really be the man that her beloved Malfurion had told her could be a valuable ally in fighting the Burning Legion. She had no doubt that he was talented and could be a great fighter in his own right. But fighting the Legion was not something one could do alone, even if it was her beloved who came with the plan, it was the Alliance and the Horde that made it possible.

Still if Cenarius, Elune, and Malfurion deemed it important to tell her that he was vital, then he must be fated for a role in the war. Tyrande knew from her experiences in the past and with the war that was only years old, the Legion would return. They were not entirely leaderless and there was no doubt that this was not the end for them. The war with the Legion was only postponed and will come back to life once more soon enough.

She sighed and placed those thoughts aside for now and focused on doing her best to keep her people stable and whole. She had no doubt that Fandral was going to use whatever resources he had to make the man's life a pain, but she was sure that he was able to hold his own if need be. She only hoped that until his role in their world was seen and better understood, she was going to have to do her best and make sure that he was going to be all right.

…

For the next few days, Damien did his best to learn all he could about the Night Elves, he knew that if they ever were met by the Chantry and by both the Dalish and the City Elves, the results would have been rather explosive, depending on the group that met the Night Elves first. The Chantry would have considered them to be heretics and called for an Exalted March on them, though he had no doubt those less fanatical members of the Chantry would be interested to learn about them. Though he had no doubt that the Chantry would easily call the magical talents of the Druids along with the Priestesses of the Moon would be seen as forbidden and call them Apostates.

He could see why there were those who saw the Chantry as short sighted and flawed in their interpretation of magic and he wondered at times, at least in private what Andraste would think of the whole thing that happened to the Chantry after her death all those years ago. And he could see just why his beloved Witch Morrigan and even Flemeth had contempt for the Chantry. Maybe if he was able to meet her again, he could try and ask her and find out just what the Prophetess and Bride of the Maker thought of what was going on in the rest of the world.

As for the Dalish, they would be surprised and amazed to meet Elves who were like them yet totally different as well. The fact that the Night Elves were formerly immortal would be surprising, but to know that they gave up their immortality to save all life in their world would have been a shock for them as it would have been something that the Dalish were not keen on surrendering easily. And the fact that the Night Elves were able to maintain and preserve their culture without any problems would have been a sight that would invoke amazement, respect, and even some level of envy.

And for the City Elves…he had honestly no idea how they would take it.

Apart from reading books about the Night Elves, he also decided to learn some new skills and also get some new ideas on how to make his way in this world. To that end, he went to some of the people in the city to learn some trades. He learned some of the fundamentals of blacksmithing, but he knew that his skills were not that good just yet. He was not anywhere near Wade's skills when it came to armor and also some other smiths that made weapons, but he did all that he could.

He also began to adjust his Herbalism skills to make do with the native plant life that could be used to make potions. His travels in his youth had taught him the need to use native plants for making healing potions as well as other things which was why he would make some, much to the approval of both Wynne and Morrigan. Both were accomplished herbalists, being mages in their own way and he was not yet at their level, but they admitted that he did well.

His Herbalism teacher was none other than Darken as the older Druid was surprised that the Human wanted to learn Herbalism. He knew that many warriors learned many ways to heal their wounds, but not many took Herbalism as they would use other means. Damien then told him about his own experiences and that was enough to make the elderly Druid smile and train him to use what he already learned and adapt it to use the herbs found in this land.

He also took the time to find some manner of employment to earn his keep, as he didn't want to be idle and actually do something to contribute to the upkeep of the place. This manner of his was something that made Tyrande respect him since despite being of a Noble house in his world, he was not putting on airs as it were. He was a proud Fereldan after all, and the idea of working with one's own hands when it was needed was bred into him since he was young. And earning money along the way would help him have some measure of support if and when he would start preparing for his task here in this world.

Some of his work included gathering wild herbs as well as metals, along with hunting for food, which was why he accompanied some of the hunting Night Elves on their expeditions. He had to ditch his heavy Plate armor as hunting with it on him was not a good idea, he however took with him the Superior Drakeskin Leather Armor Set that Wade had made before, he had given it to Leliana before until the time came in the last battle that she gave it back to him. He took that as well as his bow and his Family Sword and one other sword which was the Oathkeeper.

He was not as talented as a Hunter, but he made due with his archery skills and that was saying something considering his situation. The other Hunters found him to be a fairly good person to talk to and he did try to socialize to know the people around him so he could know them more. These hunting trips also helped to acquaint him with a measure of the wildlife in Kalimdor, something that he took great pains to record, to the amusement of the Hunters who found his desire to learn as a new trait.

His earnings in such hunts were not in large amounts but it would certainly help him out a great deal and the knowledge was a boon to add to his collection. He also earned cash for bringing in materials to feed the blacksmith forges there in Darnassus when he went back to the mainland and went on mining expeditions when he was asked to. These same materials would help him in making weapons, armor and other knick knacks that could prove of some use to others. He also would be accompanied by Darken when the elderly Druid would take him to gather herbs and learn how to make potions for not just healing but for other uses as well.

…

Apart from learning some new skills and earning money to make himself useful to his hosts, he worked on keeping himself in good combat condition and spent some time sparring with the warriors in the area known as the Warrior's Terrace. It was good to know that he had not lost any of his skills and techniques in his days as a Grey Warden and as a Noble in the Cousland household and sharpening his skills in combat.

The trainers and warriors in the Terrace were all female and only a few male Night Elves were taking part there. Most people would have wondered about that, but he had learned that this was the way of the past where the female Night Elves served either as Priestesses or warriors or at times both, and the males were Druids. Those roles were been lessened in importance, but it was not easy to let go of such things and that was why a vast majority of the Night Elves' military forces were still comprising of females.

The female Night Elves were more than willing to spar with him to see just what his skills were in battle and he was more than willing to do what he felt was the best of his abilities. The battles were with wool wrapped swords and he preferred to use their Longswords since the magical enchantments on his swords forbade him from using them as they would cut easily through the wool. The training reminded him of the times he would spar with his old trainers in the arts of the sword when he was younger, and when he learned to pick up a number of combat skills in his travels before and after becoming a Grey Warden.

All the while he began to get a feel for the way the Night Elf warriors fought, this allowed him to see that they were quite agile and lithe, relying on speed, strength, surprise, and superior positioning to strike hits on their enemies. Coupling that with their tendency to blend into the shadows was something that made them real dangers if one was caught completely off guard. But this helped him considerably to sharpen his skills in order to be a more complete warrior which he felt was certainly going to be of great value to him in the long run of things.

…

He was not the only one who was learning however, Callis was watching him most of the time as she had been reassigned by Tyrande to watch over their human guest. She didn't want to refuse and truth be told, she found the human male to be an interesting sort. She didn't entirely trust him of course, but his talents were cause for interest and the fact that he was proving to be a capable fighter. She had a feeling that being assigned by Tyrande to him was a way to help him adjust even more due to the fact that he met her first and in that regard she was the one person among her people he could work with.

Darken was another person who was amazed at how the young human was able to grasp the basics of Herbalism and make it far in the many days of being an unofficial apprentice. The boy's talent was not as sharpened as more seasoned Herbalists and potion makers, but there was no denying the fact that he learned at a rather unique pace and also he had the patience to go with the talent. The elderly Druid also helped Damien adjust to other areas that the young man had problems with and it was a good thing since the man stated that the older Druid reminded him greatly of an old friend he knew of who was a Mage but not the kind that most Night Elves knew of.

Tyrande herself was busy with other matters but whenever there was a chance that Damien was in the library in the temple, she would talk with him to learn more of him and the world that he was part of. She never took to liking the plight of the City Elves and had to admit that compared to them, even the High Elves and the Blood Elves had it better off in most if not all regards. The idea of elves being forced to follow a Faith which was never their own, treated like second class citizens, slaves, and worse filled the leader of the Night Elves with some level of utter dislike. But she never took it out on Damien as she learned that there were indeed Fereldan Noble houses who treated their elven servants and people with great care and Damien himself had developed a respect for both Dalish and City Elves in his long career.

…

Days later…

Damien sighed a bit as he got himself ready for the rest of the day before him, he had saved up quite an amount of copper, gold, and silver coins as well as gather plenty of information that could be of great use to him. His next concern was to see the other races of this world and learn from them as well. The humans of Stormwind intrigued him and getting the chance to meet them was something that he looked forward to. The Dwarves of Ironforge, the Gnomes, the Draenei, and many other cultures, and races in the Alliance were of interest to the Warden, as well as the races of the Horde.

While he had understood that there was a good deal of racial tension and hostility between the Alliance and the Horde races, he had good reason to wish to meet them. This was not his world and as such, he had to see things from their perspective as it were. This was why he had plans to speak to Tyrande and ask permission to travel the lands of Kalimdor and Azeroth to meet it's people and learn from the many cultures and races that called this place as their home. He had no doubt he was going to meet some opposition to his plans, but he was not going to be easily dissuaded either as he had good reasons to do what he had planned to do.

As soon as he was feeling himself to be ready for what he had to do, he decided to wear his Warden Commander's Plate once more and carry this time both the Keening Blade and Starfang on his back. he packed up his supplies and weapons, gave Cardos a meal and soon left the room to go to the Temple.

Once he got there, he was surprised to see a number of people there, there were humans, dwarves, and the other races he heard about. The Gnomes were an unknown race to him, they were smaller than Dwarves and did not have the same form as the Dwarves themselves, and the Dwarves before him seemed to be rather similar to the Dwarves of Orzammar that he had met many times before, though he kept in mind that things within the Dwarves of this world could be different from what he was used to.

The Draenei were quite simply unlike anything he had before in his life, they had cloven feet which seemed to be jointed back or something around those lines, there seemed to be some ridges there on their heads, along with some strange looking tendrils and a tail of all things. He could see that the Draenei was female as it had softer female features as well as the

One thing was certain, there were truly interesting things and beings in this world that he was now apparently part of. He wondered just where he was going to begin and he looked at Cardos who was looking at the people as well as him. He had a feeling that the soon to come discussion was going to be something that he was going to have to get used to as even though he was here with the Night Elves, the new people here, all members of the Alliance were going to be very curious as to why he was here in the first place.

"Cardos, looks like we are going to be in for a very long day."

The Mabari War Hound gave his master a slight whine and that was enough to tell the Grey Warden that his pet and long time companion was not looking forward to the soon to come meeting.

Damien sighed once more, he gathered himself and as soon as he felt that he was ready, he moved forward and allowed himself to be stopped by the Night Elf Guards who were the ones protecting the Temple and he got ready to submit his weapons as per the custom of the Night Elves, but to his surprise, the Captain smiled gently at him and replied.

"There is no need for you to surrender your weapons, High Priestess Tyrande has allowed you to be able to carry your weapons into the Temple as a show of our respect for your actions and contributions to our people during your time here."

"Uh…I see, thank you, I will make sure to thank you properly."

The woman nodded as she and her fellow Night Elves, moved aside and that allowed Damien and Cardos to enter the temple, and to his surprise, it seemed that Callis was there in the Temple as well, no doubt getting ready for some matters that no doubt was directed to her patrols on the mainland or anything else that would be of great importance to her people.

The Night Elf Sentinel looked at him with a surprised but neutral look, it was not hostile or welcoming, but it was not in a bad way either way. She gave him a nod and he gave it back as Cardos looked about in the Temple once more as he and his master entered the Temple.

Once they were in the chamber, the people turned to face both him and Cardos, much to Damien's annoyance, but he placed that aside as he greeted Tyrande. The High Priestess was surprised at his arrival into the Temple but relaxed a bit as she had indeed given him authority to carry his weapons into the Temple and knew that he would only do this if he had very good reason coming into the Temple.

She then spoke to him.

"Greetings Damien Cousland, though this is not the best of times for a visit I believe you have a reason for coming here?"

Damien nodded.

"I do, though I must apologize for coming here like this, had I been aware of a meeting in the Temple I would have chosen a better time. I would like to ask permission to take my leave from Darnassus for the time being to explore the lands and places here and beyond it with your express leave."

"I take it there is a reason?"

"Aye, I wish to know more of the world beyond Darnassus with your leave High Priestess, I wish to meet all the races here on this world and learn all that I can of it's history, as well as it's culture."

Tyrande nodded as she could see the logic in Damien's decision, but before anything could be said, the Temple was soon filled with questions, all of which were coming from the people who were there in the first place. One thing was certain to both Tyrande and Damien, it was going to be a very long day before he could be given leave to explore the land and learn all that he could from it.

But in Damien's mind, he was not complaining, this reminded him of the time he had his chat with Leliana before and she was right that learning more could help him broaden his perspectives, how else was he able to help her make peace with her past and put her skeletons to rest anyway?

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, that should at least show that this story is far from being in the trash bin. It's been a while but I have been busy playing the game Dragon Age Origins to get a more direct feel and love for the game. I have every intention to make what I experienced with my own game character be present in the story itself, though I will have some leeway in this as well.

I plan to make sure that this story is going to be alive for as long as needed and I will work on how to make this a good story. Now if anyone will ask me if I plan to have some pairings, then I will say that it is still up for debate and planning so don't ask me. I do not plan on having Tyrande have an affection for Damien, as I have stated before that I happen to like the relationship between the High priestess and Malfurion and courting the wrath of the fans of this pairing is the last thing on my mind.

Now in the case of Damien with other characters, that is up to me and how I make the relationship work. Suffice to say I will do my best to make sure that Damien has a chance to be in the lands of the Horde and the Alliance and soon assemble a force to fight the Legion but is independent of political control as well as help in countering threats in both lands. Not an easy task, but it will be worth it in my mind.

Apart from the female Night Elves, he will meet female Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Draenei, Orcs, Blood Elves, Tauren, Forsaken and Trolls as well as males from the races who will form his force. If you want lemons for this story, feel free to give your suggestions to me but do it in a way that is constructive and not destructive since I will not take kindly to such actions from anyone.

Reviews, constructive critiques, comments are indeed welcome, and obviously flames are not, they will be ignored and thrown out if possible.

Anyway, I have done my part to bring some life to this story, so I hope that it will be all right for all of you here and now, and I hope that it will show that this story will soon come back to full power and can be a good read for all of you here in the website.

See you all soon and I wish you all the best!


	5. Explorations

World of Warcraft X Dragon Age: The Lost Warden

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Blizzard or Bioware, namely these two games.

Chapter 4

Explorations…

( ): Thoughts

…

Damien was currently wearing his trademark Grey Warden Commander Plate but decided to have a cloak on him to hide his appearance though the hood was down so he was not hiding his face. At the moment, he was on his way to see some of the sights in this world that he was in, and this time he was not alone. He was accompanied by his Mabari War Hound Cardos and Callis who served as his guide through the lands.

The Grey Warden wanted to know more of the land of Kalimdor and eventually make his way to the other Continent known as Azeroth. Though he had managed to read extensively on the lands of Kalimdor from the libraries in the Temple of Elune in Darnassus , he preferred to see things for himself. Along the way, he would routinely have to keep himself wary of enemy attacks. These came from the wild life that was either naturally predatory or corrupted by the influence of what he learned was the mark of the Burning Legion, and the human shaped beasts that would not hesitate to attack anything or anyone they saw.

Cardos and Callis's senses were a lot sharper than his own and for that he was thankful and what he had learned in his time there in Darnassus helped him in being a lot more capable in dealing with the threats in this part of the world. He found this section of Kalimdor to be beautiful and he made that clear to his guide that he found her world interesting.

Callis merely nodded at that though she smiled slightly as they continued their journey. Occasionally they would stop at a village to replenish their supplies as well as rest and this allowed Damien to record what he had seen in his journals, as he had bought some new books and inks to help him. He personally had no idea just how long he would be in this new world, but if he ever did find a way back to his homeland, then he would have a LOT to talk about with his friends and even his brother.

At the thoughts of his brother, he was saddened by the fact that his brother lost his wife and son as well as his parents. And he knew that he too was no doubt sorely missed by his brother who now would be taking over as Teyrn of Highever and ruling over the Cousland estate. The memories of that night horrified him still when he slept, but at least the dreams that came with being a Grey Warden were less painful and more tolerable.

When they were not in a village, they would routinely make camp and both he and Callis would take turns resting and watching over the camp when the other was about to get some much needed sleep. The same could be said for Cardos as the war Hound routinely would patrol the place and bark when something was up, though he usually nudged either him or Callis to silently alert them, showing the amazing way the War Hounds were bred.

On occasion, he would speak to Callis and despite the fact that she was not too trusting of him despite the time he spent under her watch, she did open up to him. He was amazed that she was actually a lot older than him or anyone else he knew, the only possible person to outmatch her and her people would be the Darkspawn's best warriors and their leaders. This naturally included the Archdemons and the Golems themselves, as well as the Demons of the Fade. Still, it was hard not to find his Night Elf companion to be interesting, she was a fine Archer and often had skills that would put Lelianna and Zevran to shame and the two were skilled Archers, with the former being the best of the group he had been part of.

He was also respectful of the fact that she was a warrior who had served her people for many years, from the event he read about known as the Sundering to the encounters with the Horde and the Alliance, to the events of the Battle of Mount Hyjal. The things he read about and Callis' own personal accounts told him that the battle must have been of truly epic proportions and would have stood with the battles fought by the Grey Wardens.

As they moved on, there were also encounters with other races, the Dwarves were too few in number as well as these…gnomes, and he did see a scattering of humans as well in some of the villages. Their destination was going to be one of the neutral port cities in Kalimdor and it was a place known as Theramore Isle. The place was a good port to go to if one wanted to go to Azeroth, Damien had no plans to go to Azeroth just yet but had plans to go there to see the place.

He read that the place was under the rulership of a powerful female mage going by the name of Jaina Proudmoore and that was surprising to him. The idea of a mage being the ruler of a city would have been seen as heresy by the Chantry, and the more militant and extremist members he knew of would have called this Jaina a Maleficarum, that much was already know to Damien. The only mages who were known to rule nations were the Magisters of the Tevinter Imperium and he knew how they turned out. They were hated and reviled and tolerated barely by everyone else in the land of Thedas, and their actions along with their willingness to tamper with forbidden Blood Magic further added weight to the distrust towards Mages of all types, with Maleficarum being the most reviled and the least trusted being Apostates.

Still, he was very curious about this Jaina since as far as he knew, she seemed to be a fair, just and honest leader, and despite the fact that there might be people who do not get along with her, she seemed to be well liked. At least that is what he had heard from the people who he had heard had come from Theramore Isle.

…

As they moved closer to the area where Theramore was located , Callis turned to him and spoke seriously.

"We are about to enter the Dustwallow Marshes, this place is a dangerous place and is filled with not only roving bands of wild beasts such as Raptors, Crocolisks, Giant Turltes, and more. Not to mention that there is a chance we can encounter a number of Orcs and other hostile beings."

Damien nodded and Cardos himself seemed to understand the Night Elf's words as it began to keep silent. They moved in and Damien resorted to using his bow and had both of his swords at the ready as well as his dagger nearby. They had previously fought against some of the wandering Satyrs that were in the area. The many creatures that he had seen thus far had been written down in his journal when he was able to avoid being attacked. They had also found a number of coins on the corpses of the Satyrs, no doubt money they either stole from other beings, or had found around the place.

As the trio entered the areas of the Marsh, Damien was quick to pick up a rather odd and hardly pleasing smell, the smell of rotting plants, and possibly animals as well as other things best to remain unmentioned. Cardos whined out a bit and that was more than enough to tell Damien that his Mabari smelled it and disliked it just as much as he did as well.

"I know Cardos, for once this is the time I am wishing not to have a sense of smell. But let's get this over and done with."

They moved out and only two hours into their travels, they encountered trouble in the shape of several marauding Orcs, with them wearing a tabard with their clan symbol which was easily recognized by Callis.

"Twilight's Hammer!"

The three of them began to fight as the Orcs attacked them quickly, Callis fired several arrows at the Orcs charging at them, one arrow took an Orc right in the eye, and that was followed by one going through the throat, dropping the Orc dead. She was not alone in using her Bow as Damien took out his own bow and fired several arrows of his own at the Orcs. His shots wounded one Orc in the leg and in the stomach as well. Cardos stayed close to his master and their Night Elf companion, it had long ago learned to stay close to his master to protect him from being attacked when he was using his Bow and he was not going to fail.

Two more Orcs fell to the combined attack, but the rest were too close and Damien knew it as he reached for his swords, namely the Starfang and the Oathkeeper, both swords flashed in his hands as he now charged, revealing his armor. The Orcs were armed with axes and swords as the Grey Warden charged in to face them while being accompanied by his War Hound. Cardos rushed in first and smashed hard into the first orc, catching the green skinned being totally by surprise as it had not expected an attack by the creature. The shock and the hesitation cost the being it's life as the war Hound tore into the throat and ripped it out, Cardos quickly moved away as an axe came at him. The weapon buried itself deep into the chest of the slain Orc and that allowed Cardos to leap in and rip a chunk of the Orc's arm off, making the creature howl in great pain.

Damien came in and quickly sliced off the head of the screaming Orc with Starfang and sent the still screaming head flying off to the side, he turned and quickly introduced Oathkeeper into the side of another Orc's head, slicing it off and the Orc dropped dead at the results of the attack. Damien turned and blocked an incoming attack from the left side of him, and he followed that with a powerful rising slash that tore into the Orc in front of him as he side stepped the next attacker and stabbed him in the back, using a move taught to him by Zevran during a short sparring session.

The former Antivan Crow assassin had become a stalwart ally of his and as such, despite him being a Warrior and not the subtle kind to learn Assassination skills, the Elf taught him some of the basics for his own use.

Silently thanking his friend for the training, Damien quickly blocked another attack and spun around to back hand his next attacker while following on with a deep stab with Starfang into the chest.

Another Orc came at the Grey warden but was quickly knocked down by Cardos who leaped in and was barely grazed by the Orc's sword. The Orc barely had enough time to react as the War Hound quickly grabbed the arm of the Orc and managed to tear a large part of and the Mabari then went for the throat and tore it up. Cardos then turned to began mauling another Orc attempting to attack his master from behind. Damien saw that and silently thanked Cardos and he then turned and spotted another attacker coming at Callis from behind…but to his surprise, it was a Night Elf male armed with a wicked series of daggers. He took out his own dagger after driving Oathkeeper into the stomach of another attacker and shouted.

"LOOK OUT!"

Callis moved away due to the fact that she had sensed danger behind her, she moved away and spotted the Night Elf who wore the Twilight's Hammer tabard. The very second she saw the tabard she scowled darkly at the male Night Elf who she saw was a traitor to her people, she could not reload in time but did not have to as the Night Elf male got a dagger right in the shoulder. The man roared in pain but she silenced him as she fired an arrow which drove deeply into the forehead.

She turned and nodded at Damien as she took out her short sword, placing the Bow aside and took the dagger out of the Night Elf's shoulder and began to defend herself from attack/ She hoped that sooner or later, they would be safe. However, that hope died out a bit when she spotted a Warlock move from the shadows and appear in the battle field and this one was a Troll. The Troll warlock began to unleash several Fel magic bolts at them and that forced her, Damien, and Cardos to be on the defensive. However she was quick to react as she used her bow and fired an arrow at their attacker, but as she placed to finish the attack, she was attacked by another Troll of the Twilight's Hammer with a spear, forcing her to go back to her sword and the dagger as well as grimacing in pain due to a wound to her side.

"Cardos! Attack!"

The War Hound obeyed quickly and tackled the troll frombehind while Damien directed his attention to the Warloc, he could see the magic there and hoped that despite the differences, his Templar training was going to help him in the situation with the Warlock. He moved quickly towards the Warlock, who tried to shoot a fireball at him. He moved as best he could, ignoring the sudden flash of heat that came past him and that exploded behind him as the fireball flew past him and exploded behind him.

The warlock grinned evilly at the Grey Warden and cast a defensive barrier to protect himself, the Grey warden attacked and the shield blocked it, much to the delight of the troll Warlock. However, that joy was short lived as he sensed his mana supply being drained faster than he expected. Damien knew this as well as he was pleased that Andraste's words were true as he began to strike at the shield, feeling his strikes break through the barrier.

The Troll Warlock swore in a foul tongue and began to cast another spell, but as it was about to be unleashed, Damien finally broke through the barrier and drove his sword Starfang right into the head of the Troll Warlock. The attack cut through the Troll and cut him in half as the enchantments done to Starfang made it more than effective in battle. Damien kicked the bleeding carcass of the warlock aside from his sword and cut the stomach of another Twilight Hammer Troll open and used Oathkeeper to cut the head off.

…

Hours later…

"Aaaaahhhh!"

Callis gritted her teeth as she felt the sting of the healing salve on her wound at her side, she knew that there would be others. She had not only the wound from the Troll's spear, but a few other gashes on her side as well as a cut from an Orc's axe on her calf. She was currently being treated by Damien who was using the supplies that they had with them and he himself was going to need treatment from the burns and a few gashes as well.

Cardos was the only one of them that was not scarred and the brave War Hound was now the sentry over them. It had been a while after the battle and it was already becoming night time, they took what they could from the bodies of the Twilight's Hammer forces and cleared out the area, letting the swamp deal with the remains. Despite their injuries, they were able to get to safety and get a fire going to heal their wounds.

Damien looked apologetically at Callis and replied.

"Sorry about that."

"It's nothing, I have worse wounds than these, it just annoys me that they sting this bad."

The Grey Warden nodded and recalled that there had been plenty of times that he and the others had treated each other with Injury Kits and Healing Poultices on more than one instance. He had lost count of the times he had to deal with broken and fractured bones, torn muscles, bleeding wounds and the like. And no doubt Wynne had a hard time herself tending to their wounds as well, though Morrigan usually tended to his wounds more often than the others.

As soon as he was done applying the salve to the gashes, he then wrapped them with clean linen bandages, that much Callis sensed and she spoke with some level of admiration.

"You are rather good at this."

"I had a lot of experience in tending wounds when I was younger…and I…I had a lot more time after leaving my home and being a Grey Warden."

"I see…I still have to thank you and I know how, let me heal you as well."

Damien nodded and began to remove his armor. The burns stung him a little as despite wearing armor, the sudden and violent increase of heat had burned his skin and while the burns were not too bad, they had caused wounds to break out. Couple those burn wounds with the wounds he had from weapons, then he too was hurting, though not too much. As he sat back, Callis was now working the healing salve on him as well, there was naturally some pain but not enough to make him cry out too loudly, though he naturally hissed a bit at the pain.

Callis noted that and began to apply the salve a bit more carefully as well, much to the relief of the Grey Warden. The pain was still there and he was more than willing to deal with it, he was thankful that at least unlike the Darkspawn he and the others fought with before, none of the creatures that his pet Cardos had attacked did not have poisoned or corrupted blood. All the same, he made sure to give his Mabari War Hound a very thorough inspection to make sure that he was indeed healthy.

It took some time for her to apply the medical salve and Damien commented on that.

"You've done this before as well?"

"Many times, ever since becoming a Sentinel and on patrol, what kind of leader would I be if I did not learn how to treat the wounded under my command and care?"

"I see, that is good to know as well, anyway, thank…augh…you."

"You are welcome, and I apologize for that, I should also thank you for what happened with that…attacker."

Damien was confused for a moment or two, but quickly guessed that it might have had something to do with that one Night Elf they fought with before.

"Do not mention it…though, I am confused as to what he was…"

"Doing with an Orc clan? Who knows…even among the savage Orcs I have dealt with before, and those corrupted by the Legion, the Twilight's Hammer are seen as insane and corrupted. That one was not the first, several other races are also part off that demented clan. They seem themselves as agents of destruction and care little for their own lives as well. All they care about is sowing chaos and destruction wherever they reside. We've tried to stamp them out, but with our numbers the way they are…that has not been easy."

Damien could guess why but decided not to comment about those things as they had other concerns for the time being. Once they were done bandaging each other, they decided to get something to eat, and this included some cooked meat, fruits, some bread and a good amount of spring water. The feeling of good food and drink helped alleviate their situation and soon they were able to get some much needed sleep for what they were going to do next. Before they would take turns watching their camp, they decided to check the map to make sure that they were still on the right track to get to the city of Theramore Isle.

…

The next day, the two of them continued with their journey towards Theramore isle, already Damien could see that the route was a well traveled one due to the formation of the dirt road. The smell of the swamps did not bother him and Cardos as much as before and that was either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on one's perspective of the whole situation. They also managed to avoid some of the more hostile life forms that called this place home though naturally there were some close calls.

At one point they had nearly stumbled into what appeared to be some ramshackle village which was inhabited by what appeared to be Orcs, but wore no colors, no doubt were renegades. They also had to avoid getting the attention of the Ogres that called this dangerous place their home. Damien had to admit to himself as well as to Callis, that when he saw the Ogres, he was surprised at the vast difference between the Ogres he knew of and those before him. The Night Elf had to agree as she still recalled what the differences were between the one eyed and at times two headed brutes of her world to the monstrosities of his world created from the taint that created all the known Darkspawn.

She in turn told him the stories about the Ogres and what they had been used for once they were sure that they were not going to encounter the roving bands. Damien could not help but feel a level of disgust at the stories and he admitted that the idea of them being threats was understandable. He was slightly confused though on why these creatures were allowed to wander the place, but saved those questions for later.

The other creatures that called this place home still fascinated and terrified Damien, they encountered the Raptor creatures when a pack of them attempted to ambush them, and it was only with Callis's senses that they avoided being ambushed. The fight had been brutal and Cardos had been wounded though non-fatally, however, it was here that Damien used a new power from the Power of Blood.

This one was known as the Crimson Whirlwind as he allowed some of his blood to flow from his wounds into the swords as he spun around into the raptors. His blood seemed to actually give the blades a form of passive poison and even slightly increased cutting power. This allowed him to cut through the Raptor's thick hide even though it hurt him a good deal. That had been enough to turn the battle to their favor and that was something that they were all thankful for.

It had been a hard battle but he was thankful that they made it out, though he had to take in some healing potions afterwards as his power had drained him considerably. Callis saw that as he had become a bit paler than before and she had to help him at times in moving through the swamps. And while he wanted to move on his own power, it was not going to be a very good thing for him.

It was not long before they took in some time to rest for the end of the day and soon arrived at the outer areas of Theramore Isle. They were busy setting up camp when they encountered a Theramore Patrol and naturally things were a bit odd. One of the guards, a high ranking one and no doubt the lead officer of this group walked up to the trio and spoke sternly.

"You three are trespassing on Theramore Isle's sovereign borders, who are you and what is your business here?"

Damien replied to the man's question.

"We are here to go to Theramore Isle, we have no intentions that are of a hostile nature to it or the people who reside there."

"Hmmm…I'll be the judge of that, it's strange to be meeting you here, shouldn't it have been better that you rode in instead of walking all the way here?"

"We had no time to hire a mount back in Darnassus, and you are?"

"Oh yeah, protocol and such, the name's Captain Daniel Rosten if you're so curious, and you two are?"

"Damien Cousland."

"Callis Stareye."

Daniel turned to look at the massive War Hound with the bandages on him and spoke as the Mabari was looking at him in open curiosity.

"What sort of animal is this?"

Cardos gave a whine at that and Damien answered.

"He's a War Hound, and the name for him is Cardos, I personally raised him as a pup and he follows my commands, most of the time."

Daniel raised any eyebrow as he had seen dogs before, but this was a large one in his eyes and of a breed that he did not know of.

"Most of the time?"

"Let's just say that Cardos has an uncontrollable love for eating what he can find, but I trust him and so far he has proven to me again why I raised him. During our coming here, we were attacked and he fought alongside us, tore open the throats of several enemies more than once already."

"Hmm…all right then, let's hurry up, we can get to Theramore Isle if we walk for the duration of the night. If you all feel you can do it, then we'll get going so eat up and rest up."

Damien nodded and the time he had been given was enough to give him the chance to check on Cardos and feed him as well as bandage his wounds. The others including Callis watched in surprise as he began to gorge on food once more, and while the Night Elf was used to a degree in seeing that, she was still amazed by the whole thing. The others however were shocked and one of the guards a female High Elf commented on what she was seeing.

"By the Light, how is he even able to eat that much?"

Another guard, this time a Dwarf carrying a Blunderbuss Rifle commented with a grin.

"Aye, I wonder about that meself, I wonder if he can drink down beer like that as much as he can food."

The previous guard snorted a bit and looked at her Dwarven companion.

"Is it always beer and food to you Magnon?"

"Aye, a simple love for beer and food, fights aplenty, not to mention song and stories that abound of valor! That is the kind of life I would love to live! Maybe you should try eating more lass, a little extra meat on the bones might finally net ye a husband…namely up there."

It was fairly obvious which part of the female High Elf's body the Dwarf was referring to, much to the amusement of the other guards and the shaking head of the captain that had an expression exasperation on said face.

The High Elf blushed and looked at the dwarf in utter embarrassment and indignation.

"My figure is just thank you!"

"So ye say."

"Quiet you two!"

"Yes Captain!"

As soon as everything was underway, the three were now escorted by the Captain and his patrol group, numbering at least a dozen or so, there were four High Elves with three being male, three Dwarves, all male, and the rest were humans with two women and three men. All of them wore high quality armor and carried their weapons with consummate professionalism. Damien noted that and could not help but wish that the guards in Denerim were just as professional and skilled. Most of the guards were the bastard sons of nobles who were only interested in placing said sons there to let them feel important.

He had no doubt that the Sergeant back in Denerim would have loved to have these people than those wastrels in uniform. And neither would he as well, no doubt the dangers of this place served to make these men and women of different races a lot tougher than regular people and therefore, were well trained and well supplied. The quality of their armor and weapons also told him that the people of Theramore had a very strong and stable economy to afford these weapons and armor. Not to mention that they would have some very strong forms of technology, he was familiar with technology to some degree as Sten used to tell him of explosives and gunpowder, as well as cannons during some sparring sessions when he and the Qunari became very good friends and allies despite Sten not being too familiar with the term of friend.

As soon as they arrived in the city, Daniel took it upon himself to take them to the nearby inn, he was the one who spoke to the Innkeeper about letting them stay for the night as well. Damien and Callis thanked him and offered a good deal of money to pay for their stay, which the man was more than willing to take. As soon as they arrived in their respective rooms, the two relaxed, though Callis was not too comfortable being in a place like this.

Damien however had one final chore…and that was to give his War Hound a bath, he knew that it was not going to be easy as Cardos hated baths like any dog but it had to be done. The last thing he wanted was his beloved Mabari stinking of that swamp and fouling up the place. The process was long and wet since the ONLY person he knew who could convince Cardos to bathe was Wynne herself since the elderly mage had a grandmotherly aura about him, plus arguing with her was for no one's benefit at all.

…

In Theramore Isle the next day…

It was not long before the trio woke up and headed off to eat, but not after taking baths themselves to clean up, and then clean their own gear. Once that was out of the way, and they now had their bellies full, the three began to take a personal look through of the city of Theramore Isle.

The sight of the city was surprising to Damien as while it did not match the size of the capital city of Feralden known as Denerim, it was impressive in it's own way. As he and his companions made their way into the camp, he was curious of the history of the place, though he had to admit that some of his senses were being tested. The senses were those of his Templar training, he could feel the magic coming from this place and there was no doubt that this place had some fairly powerful mages.

As he, Cardos, and Callis moved in, the Grey Warden who still wore his cloak looked at the many sights, one of which were the war mounts. He was amazed by the sight of horses there, and there was a very good reason as well. When the Grey Wardens were still as numerous in the past, they rode into battle on Gryphons and had that as their symbol in battle, the creatures were long extinct but they had consumed horses as well, which was the reason why there were no horses.

The Gryphons that were there were similar to the very same creatures on his Armor and he could not help but recall as the stories of the Grey Wardens he had heard in his own youth, and what Orin, his deceased nephew had heard in his younger days as well. He placed those memories aside and looked at one of the creatures who looked right back at the Warden and his two companions. He turned to Callis and spoke to her.

"This is an actual horse isn't it?"

Callis was confused by that a bit and replied.

"Of course it is, while my people prefer Nightsabres as mounts, these horses are not too bad, I thought that even in your world, horses were common."

"They were, except that many of them wound up being eaten by the Gryphons that were the mounts of the Grey Wardens in the past, which is why horses are seen as very much gone in my world."

Callis couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that and shook her head, stating once again that while she was accepting of the fact that he was from another world, she was confused a great deal about the way it worked. Damien ignored that for now as he continued to look at the horse, who naturally looked right back at him, and at Cardos as well. The Mabari looked at the massive animal with some sense of trepidation and was close to his master the whole time.

They moved on as Damien looked the place over, and while he was taking in the sights of the city, he was also noticing the people who were looking at them. A number of the High Elves seemed to have a level of animosity towards Callis and he was curious as to why that was the case. He was familiar with the history between the Night Elves and their distant kin the High Elves and thus the result of animosity between them when they met after so long, but he was not sure why they were being hostile to her. With the Night Elves as allies in this land, it would have been better that they were working side by side.

He also noted that a number of Night Elves were also taking residence there which was a good thing since it proved that despite their differences, at least they can tolerate living together. It was also here that he spotted what appeared to be the main castle of the city itself. No doubt the leader, Jaina was there doing her duties as leader of the city. She had a very strong reputation in the city which he heard of from the people who resided in this place and as such, he decided to go there and see if he would be able to get an audience with her.

As for the place itself, it was hard to reach by land and could only be reached by sea or by air without incident though the sea route was well watched. He was impressed by the sights of the Gryphons being held there in their personal pens, and wondered briefly if these were related in any way to the Gryphon mounts used by the Grey Wardens.

…

In Theramore Keep….

As soon as he entered the Keep alongside Callis and Cardos, he could not help but notice the construction of the place. There were SOME similarities to the way the Dwarves of Orzammar made their homes but that ended since the work also included the hands of humans and even some elvish, though this was merely guess work on his part. The place had several guards who looked sternly at him and the others as well. His Templar training was kicking in as he sensed the magic all over the place as well and while he was cool about it, he had to admit that the place was thick with it.

"Greetings!"

Damien turned and spotted a blonde woman walk towards him, carrying a staff and wearing the robes of a Mage, but not those of any mage he knew of back home. The robes were not the same as Morrigan's and had a stately, aristocratic air in their making, yet they were practical as well. The blonde woman was very attractive and no doubt had made more than one head turn as people would look at her. She carried herself with the aura of a noble woman, but he doubted that she was a simple noble-woman.

Damien could tell that this woman before him was travel hardened and carried herself as a leader and also a warrior. She might not carry a sword or a dagger as far as he could see, but she was not to be trifled with and while he had no idea what sort of power she possessed, he could sense already that she had a great deal of it. In some ways, she had a power to rival or surpass slightly Morrigan's own power.

Damien's attention then went to the other woman in the room who was walking towards him alongside the blonde mage. She wore the robes of a public official in high court and was possibly an aide to the woman, or a chamberlain as he had heard the term before. But something about her was off…his templar senses were very much on edge and he could sense a large and VERY well focused amount of mana coming from this woman. There were few mages who had that level of control in his mind. Those happened to be First Enchanter Irving, Wynne, and Morrigan's 'mother' herself, Flemeth.

Between this unknown woman and the blonde female mage, Damien could sense that they would have given even senior mages a run for their proverbial money. He however managed to rein in his thoughts lest he did something that would be misinterpreted by those around him. He then bowed in greeting in the way of his upbringing.

"Greetings, am I safe to assume that you are Lady Jaina Proudmoore?"

The blonde mage smiled and nodded.

"You would be correct, and I know who you are from Captain Daniel's report to me, Damien Cousland."

Damien nodded and replied.

"I see, I wish to assure you Lady Proudmoore that I indeed have no ill will to your people, in fact, I am here to learn about this land I am in."

Jaina nodded as she could see the way he had looked the place over, in truth she had observed him ever since he had gotten out of the Inn and explored the city before coming to the Keep itself. She was not sure why, but this man seemed…different somehow to her, and the same could be said for her chamberlain who was actually the former Guardian of Trisfal Aegwynne herself. Aegwynne had cautioned her when it came to speaking to the man though not in a way that showed hostility. This made her rather curious as to who this person was and therefore she was pleased that he had come to the keep willingly.

It would have given off a rather bad impression had she ordered the guards to take him and his companion to the keep without reason.

Before things could go further, Callis walked towards Jaina and spoke to her.

"Greetings to you Lady Proudmoore, I am Callis of the Sentinels, I was asked by High Priestess Tyrande to accompany Damien in his explorations of the lands."

"Really? That is a rather surprising thing for High Priestess Tyrande to do."

"It is, Damien is a special guest of our people and when he expressed an interest in exploring the lands, he was given permission by the High Priestess and I was assigned as his guide and ally though he and his canine companion are very capable on their own."

Jaina nodded and smiled at Cardos, who moved forward and smelled her hand…and to the amusement of the Mage and to those around the area, the Mabari began to bound and bark around Jaina with enthusiasm. This showed to Damien that his Mabari found Jaina to be friendly and someone he could trust. The mage smiled and as soon as Cardos was done bounding around, he trooped over to Jaina, sat down and looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

Jaina placed her hand on the Mabari's head and petted him, making Cardos bark gently in approval.

"You're hound is very friendly Damien."

"True, but only if he finds the people in question to be trust worthy, anyone trying to pet A Mabari War Hound without it's approval, tries to stop it, rein it down, and take it's food away risks getting his or her hand bitten off. Cardos had the same reaction to Callis as well as a few other Night Elves and Tyrande as well. Though that does not mean he shows friendship to those who senses are not to be trusted. I know this since he has no love for the one named Fandral Staghelm who happened to be the current Archdruid there in Darnassus.

Jaina nodded at that as she too had met the Night Elf male in question on more than one occasion and that had left in her a sour impression as well.

"I can understand that, but despite my dislike for his attitude, Fandral does have the power and strength to be where he is, you will just have to be used to it and him as well. At any rate, I am rather curious as to what sort of Dog is he, I sense some trace of magic in him yet he does not feel like a familiar."

"He is a Mabari War Hound, and they have great ties to the culture and traditions of my people, as well as our history. A mage generations in the past raised a number of hounds and when they were old enough, had them magically altered to be able to understand simple spoken commands and also have a slightly higher level of intelligence and could fight well in battle. From those hounds came the Mabari and they are indeed well trained and capable in battle, though they do have something of a temper at times."

"I see…where exactly in Azeroth and Lordaeron do they exist?"

"That…might pose a problem Lady Jaina, Cardos and I…are not from this realm."

Jaina raised her eyebrow at that and after a moment or two, she spoke once more to Damien.

'Pardon? You said that you are not from the lands of either Azeroth or Lordaeron, instead you claim to be from another realm?"

"Yes, and I have no reasons for lying to you about my origins and that of my War Hound. I am from a place known as Thedas, in the region known as Fereldan. My parents were…Teyrn Bryce Cousland and Teyrna Eleanor Cousland, they ruled the lands of Highever and served the Kingdom of Feralden for generations. That is before we were betrayed by our supposed friend and ally Arl Rendon Howe who sided with a former war hero and now confirmed Regicide and traitor Loghain Mac Tyr, I was the only one to escape the siege of my family home and became a Grey Warden."

The silence that came after that was rather thick and for a moment not a single person spoke, even Cardos remained silent, showing that the Mabari was aware of the sudden change and was ready to respond if needed.

Jaina finally spoke to the Grey Warden before her.

"This is very interesting indeed, I know that my words might sound strange, but I have to confess that hearing about you being from another world is something else. We knew now that the Orcs of the new Horde and the old Horde had come from another world themselves before they ever came to Azeroth during the First, Second, and Third Wars. But we never heard of humans from another realm entirely. How exactly did you get here? What are the differences between your world and ours? Are the races we have here present in your own? What are the Grey Wardens?"

The chamberlain moved and gently placed a hand on the blonde mage's shoulder, no doubt a gesture for her to relax herself.

"Lady Jaina, please calm yourself, I doubt that Damien Cousland can answer you in the way you are acting right now."

Jaina stopped and soon nodded, showing embarrassment to the people there as even Callis had a small smirk on her face. She had always enjoyed hearing new tales and news from the outside world as these had been very helpful to her ever since she established Theramore Isle as her new home in Kalimdor ever since fleeing the Scourge and the Burning Legion. To learn and hear about another human coming from another realm was something she had never heard of before. Not a single mention of any outworldly human coming to this world had ever been recorded and normally would have been seen as odd at first. This was why she was eager to learn as much as she could, but now she calmed down and replied.

"I apologize for my behavior, it was unbecoming of me…but I do have reason for it, there has never been any mention of a human not native to this world ever coming here at all, so this is a first for everyone, including myself as well. Anyway, I am eager to learn what I can of your world Damien Cousland, but only if you are willing to tell the whole story."

"I do not see why that would not be possible, but I will have to state that it is a very long story. I have been something of a scholar myself and while I love history, I know that not everyone who is…well…young wants to hear long stories."

Jaina laughed at that and replied.

"I understand, but I am a scholar like you, and while I have no doubt that some of what you will say to me will be hard to swallow, I am willing to deal with that. I will have a good meal ready for you if you so wish and you can tell me all that you can. And please do not hide any details from me, I would really want to learn about everything that you know."

Damien could tell that Jaina's desire to learn about his home reality and how he had gotten here was genuine, and he could bet that his old teacher would have loved having Jaina around, mage or not. Sister Hannah herself would have been surprised and would have also been eager to share what she knew despite the fact that Jaina was a mage.

"Very well then, it is going to be a very long story so I hope that I do not bore you with too many details."

…

Hours later…

Jaina was silent as Damien placed away the goblet of wine that he had been given, she had a lot to think about with this world that Damien Cousland spoke of. When she had asked permission to speak to him about where he came from, she sensed something…different about him. Like there was something utterly unworldly about him, and it had little to do with the Burning Legion at all, or like the former Guardian Medivh that she, Thrall, Malfurion, and Tyrande had met many years ago.

And now that he told her his story and how he go here, she knew now why she felt that way. Still it was a lot to take in for her, to hear how mages were treated in Thedas was very troubling to her=, which was why she was thankful that she had placed silence wards around the chamber to prevent anyone from hearing what was being discussed between her and Damien Cousland. The way the Elves were also treated by others was also just as bad, and hearing about the Dwarves of Orzammar was also a bit disquieting.

Still, the news was not too bad, and she could sense that despite all that had happened to him, Damien was a good man, the fact that he was able to do all those things before being sent here to their world by the God of his world was proof of that.

"I have to…admit that this story of yours is very surprising, to know that such a world is really there is very surprising and intriguing. But also hard to imagine very quickly as well."

"You doubt me Lady Proudmoore?"

"No, not at all, the way you spoke honestly and at times painfully about what had happened tells me that not a single word you have spoken of was a lie. That and the fact that I had my training on how to detect liars before helps as well in me figuring out that you spoke the truth ever since you came here. It's not too hard to imagine how this could happen, though I have to admit that this…Maker who you worship, and his bride…Andraste must have such faith in you to be the one they sent here. You must have great skills and talents to be the one they would have chosen to help defend your world by coming here to help us, and that is possible considering what you have done to unite those forces in your world to fight this Darkspawn, the Blight, and their leader the Archdemon."

Damien gave a sad laugh at that and replied.

"I know, but I am just one man…"

Cardos then barked indignantly at his master and Damien could not help but reply to the look given to him by his Mabari with an apologetic but amused expression.

"Sorry about that Cardos, one man AND his Dog, but still, it's hard to imagine that I can be able to do all of this by myself. Even if Andraste and the Maker trust me enough, I am not like them at all. I may have my skills, training, experience, and the powers given to me, but I doubt that I can face a literally legion of demons on my own. And even if I could go and enlist help, who would believe a foreigner from another world, and a single one at that?"

Jaina nodded as she was aware of how hard it was to have the weight of leadership and responsibility for so many.

"I understand how you feel Damien very well, when I was approached by Medivh long ago to help evacuate as many of my people from Lordaeron, I thought it would be hard for me to lead so many. I may have been the daughter of one of the Heroes of the Alliance in the Second War with the Old Horde, and a powerful mage at that, but it was hardly easy. Even more so when we finally met with the new Horde and had to work together to fight in the battle against Archimonde and the Legion, that was not simple in any case. Fighting the Legion as well as the Scourge had been a true test for everyone in the 7th Legion, the force that I had command of ever since I came to this land. But I guess that in the end we have to make due with what we have and learn to grow and prosper from it no matter how hard it would seem to do at the beginning. "

Damien nodded at that and Jaina then replied as she began to recall all the important details of the story that had been told to her by the man before her and Aegwynne herself.

"Besides, from what you have said, you are not required to do it all now, you still need to make the force in question and also have the resources for it. Doing all of that should help you out a good deal so I feel that this should make things a lot easier for you in the rest of the way."

Damien smiled at that.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence Lady Proudmoore, if you were around in my world, and part of our group, you would have really been someone that Alistair would have liked meeting, even more so for being a Mage. Wynne herself would have found the conversations between you and her very informative as well."

"I suppose that would be true since this Wynne sounds like a very wise woman despite her years and her…condition. Still I am not quite happy with what your people do to Mages. It sounds like you treat them as second class citizens at best, and violent criminals to be taken out at worst. Not all magic users are evil and they do not have to be seen as monsters all the time."

"I can't really say that you are wrong in those areas Lady Proudmoore, I can bet you and my friend Wynne would have had a very interesting discussion about it, along with Morrigan and even Alistair. Still, magic in my reality is both gift and curse since this allows demons from the Fade a chance to enter the world of the living and corrupt all that they touch, and the Tevinter Imperium's mages didn't exactly leave a positive image of mages."

Jaina frowned as she found the Tevinter Imperium's actions under their mage leaders to be abhorrent and disgusting in more ways than one.

"I concede that point, at any rate, I will be happy to have you and your companions as guests here until you decide to leave and continue your explorations. Do you have any plans to take a look of our libraries at some point while here?"

Damien nodded at that.

"I would certainly appreciate that offer Lady Jaina."

It was here that Jaina had an idea, it had been hard to imagine, but since she was quite skilled in magic, and with Aegwynne nearby to provide support as well as advice on how it would be done. After all, she might not have the power to send Damien and Cardos back home, but she could at least try to find a way to help him contact his friends and possibly his family.

"Damien, I do have something that can be helpful though I am no sure that it can be done easily, nor can I say that it is going to be something that can be done a number of times."

The Grey Warden looked at Jaina curiously and wondered just what was it that she was planning to tell him.

"What would that be Lady Jaina?"

"I can attempt to establish a portal to your world to allow you to see and possibly communicate with others from your own world. I cannot promise that it can send you home since your world might be at a location that is too far and too dangerous for me to try and reach."

Damien's eyes were wide at that and he replied.

"You could so that Lady Jaina? Not even the best mages in the Circle as far as I know can do that as of yet. And that is what worries me as well, won't there be some considerable risk to you and everyone else around you?"

Jaina could tell that Damien was serious about this and she herself was rather unsure about what she suggested, but she was willing to give it a try.

"It's up to you if you want to take it or not, I will still have to do a lot of work in order to see if it can be done. If you wish to try and if possible you can ask permission from your God the Maker and his bride Andraste to do this, then that will make it a great deal easier for all of who are involved.

"I'll keep this in mind, give me a few days to think this all through."

"All right then…you can tell me when you are ready for this attempt to see your world again, as well as speak to those who were your friends and comrades. Also if you decide to drop by the lands under the ownership of the Horde, I will make sure to send a forward notice to Thrall and the other leaders, they will respect that and help you should you ever come under their watch."

"Thank you, now I feel that I can see those libraries of yours."

"Right this way then."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

There we go, a new chapter in a story that has not been updated in a while, I hope that this shows that this story if far from forgotten.

Now in this chapter, Damien and his two companions, Cardos and Callis are travelling the lands of Kalimdor and are currently on Theramore isle and it is here that he will meet Jaina Proudmoore and a certain former Guardian. Here Damien will try and make an attempt to communicate to his comrades back in Thedas. Will it be successful or not? That question will be answered in the next chapter and not before. I do not want to spoil that. However, I will certainly not allow Damien to return to his world just like that. It will not happen…yet, after all, this attempt is merely to see if it is possible.

Now if anyone asks me how this story will turn out, let's just say that right now, it's merely exploring work and eventually, our Grey Warden will make his way to the Horde Lands. How will he fare looking at the Orcs and other races that make up the Horde? And how will he be able to move among them and avoid being seen as a spy of the Alliance?

On the topic of Morrigan which was brought up to me a few times, I am not so sure what to do with her. I will follow with the current plot of the Witch Hunt DLC but it should be obvious that in place of Damien, we have an Orlesian Grey Warden who will handle the events of Awakening, the Golems DLC, and naturally the Dragon Age 2 saga. This means that Morrigan might not be in the world of Azeroth at all, or she can find her way there though that is doubtful right now.

Damien will not forget his beloved Witch of the Wilds just like that so don't expect him to suddenly become romantically attracted to the women he might find appealing. He will eventually realize that he might not be able to return to his home so he will slowly let go, but not that easily and it will be some time before I make a new pairing for Damien.

However, I will not have this go in a harem direction, at least not yet since that is not going to be easy. I will be focusing on Damien's explorations, building relations, and meeting with others. Once that is all done, we get down to the part where he will be forming the force that was asked of him by Andraste and the Maker. And then we get to test them in a battle with the Legion's agents and we can see what other powers Damien can use in battle.

Only when we do that, can we go for a pairing idea, that does not mean however that I will not turn away the idea of him flirting, as I said before in the chapters that I have already made.

…

Next on the update block will be my Neverwinter Nights Lord of the Rings crossover, then Mortal Kombat Rosario, my Dead or Alive Castlevania story and also some of my Naruto stories, And before anyone asks, that will also include my Justice League Naruto crossover story.

And with that out of the way, I hope to see you all soon when I finally get the chance to update my stories and also relax to prevent me from getting exhausted from all the things I have been doing here in writing fanfiction and real life.

…

See you all soon!


	6. Not a chapter

Hell readers, I know that normally you would be expecting a new chapter update, but this is obviously not one of them. I right now I have good news and bad news.

Bad news first since it has to be squared away so we can get to the good news. Just yesterday afternoon here in my side of the world, I received the scan warning of my PC that my hard drive has finally become bad and failure is imminent. I have been hearing weird noises from my HD for some time and after having it diagnosed, my cousin finally confirmed that it is reaching the end of it's ability to function. And now that day has come so now I have to either have it replaced or repaired.

And considering the fact that it's an older HDD model, I am not sure if it can be repaired, I will ask my cousin if he can try to repair it but if it is not salvageable then I have no other option but to buy a new one. And considering my family's current finances which is not too good but not too bad either, it might take a while. So that means my PC is dead in the water

Now the good news, I have managed to back up all my files prior to the collapse of the HD in my USB devices so it's not a total loss. I will find a way to upload all my recently updated non Halo files into the site and continue there until I solve my hard drive problem. If that works out, then I will be able to still update my work so it will not be long before I continue. So if you see a new update after this message is sent, then you will know that I am still alive and kicking.

Just to be clear, all Halo stories are still on ice so don't ask me about them. I will unfreeze them when I have done what I want with the non Halo ones. And the non Halo stories will still be updated whenever possible so don't worry about them.

…

I know this is not what anyone wants, but it was bound to happen eventually so I have to make the most of it.

See you all soon.


End file.
